ArchMans » projects

The forced ecology of occupation

archmans — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:04:47 +0000

"Palestinian architects are often asked to draw inspiration from the grand Islamic architectural tradition and the local cultural heritage, said Palestinian architect Omar Yousef, with a hint of sarcasm. His local heritage is not the Alhambra palace or Istanbul mosques, but rather the crowded cityscale of Silwan, East Jerusalem, where he grew up, and Shuafat, where he now lives and works, he said. It is an architecture of chaos, crowdedness, instability, temporariness and destruction, improvised building additions and a separation fence. It is an architecture of discrimination, control and supervision." -- Haaretz

TERRIBLE BEAUTY 2: the ineffable

archmans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:33:17 +0000

When was the last time you heard the word ?ineffable? in a discussion about architecture? Never? Well, I?m not surprised. Ineffable means ?unspeakable??that which cannot be said?so I can understand why people do not speak of it. And yet, the ineffable is an important concept and even more so a momentous and profoundly disturbing experience when we encounter it, which most of us will, at one time or another, in the unfolding of our lives. - Lebbeus Woods

Jean Nouvel to Design New Paris H&M Store

archmans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:46:35 +0000

H&M, the fashion world's equivalent to IKEA, has commissioned Jean Nouvel to design a "futuristic hyperstore" on Paris' Champs Elys?es. The new store is expected to be 3 floors and around 2,800 square meters. via ykone

OpenBuildings

archmans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:03:38 +0000

OpenBuildings is a new community-driven website that lists architecture from across the globe; be it historic, contemporary or conceptual, enabling a more open way to share architectural knowledge.

Featured Jobs Today: in New York & New Haven

archmans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:00:43 +0000

RMJM seeking Project Manager - Russian & English speaking in New York, NY
The Project Manager, under the direct but minimum direction of the Principal in Charge, assumes the full responsibility of project overview, monitoring and control of the project delivery process...

Svigals + Partners, LLP seeking Architect/designer in New Haven, CT
Seeking creative, passionate, motivated designer committed to a highly collaborative work environment in a firm that is being re-imagined to embrace complex problems in a challenging economy...

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Faithful+Gould

archmans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:12:40 +0000

Faithful+Gould is one of the world's largest project and cost management consultancies, with offices in the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East & India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Twenty years of ADA: Monica Ponce de Leon discusses universal design on NPR’s "All Things Considered"

archmans — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:22:48 +0000

NPR's Robert Siegel interviewed Monica Ponce de Leon, principal of Office dA and Dean of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, to talk about the state of universal design in the discipline, twenty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. NPR

"An atmosphere in bloom…"

archmans — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:13:50 +0000

jargon, etc. reviews French architects Nicolas Dorval-Bory and Rapha?l B?tillon's recent cloud and greenhouse installation in Toulouse, a project which synthesizes the ideas of Diller Scofidio and Renfro's Blur Building with Gilles Cl?ment's Planetary Gardens.

Rael San Fratello Architects

archmans — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:12:01 +0000

Rael San Fratello Architects, established in 2002 by partners Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, is an internationally recognized award-winning firm whose focus on emerging technologies and ecological design lies at the intersection of architecture, art, culture, and the environment. As practitioners and academics, they seek to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of ecological thinking through design and are committed to innovation through research, analysis and artistry.

ShowCase: Plastic House

archmans — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:26:08 +0000

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies. We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.

A house is excavated and a space created. The insertion of an object allows inhabitation. The house is on a terrace whose split-?section is native to Georgian Dublin; a grand parlor to the front with smaller rooms to the rear at half-?levels one up and one down from the street.

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Street front - Before

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Backside - Before

The project begins with removal ?? of the existing extension, internal walls and earth ? bringing the entire house to lower ground-floor level. This opens the volume of the house as a double-height vessel, full of light.

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New street front

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Peeking through the street front window

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New backside

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New backside at night

A cruciform object is inserted; a piece of architectural furniture which spreads tree-?like from a concentrated base. Services such as kitchen, toilet, storage and stairwell are housed within this trunk ? providing for living and dining in the spaces around it. Above this, is a platform for sleeping, dressing and study spaces. The four branches of the structure hold various functions ? two which span to the side walls act as wardrobes while that to the front is a cantilevered reading desk for the teacher-?client. The fourth branch extends through the rear wall and projects two meters beyond it housing a shower room, which is glazed to the sky, reminiscence of the traditional ?Georgian return typology?.

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Inserted cruciform object

A ledge running along the perimeter wall downstairs expresses the retaining wall which was built against the street and neighboring houses ? this doubles as a shelf for the display of books and artifacts in the living and dining areas. Opening out from this ground floor is a generous garden with a simple rendered wall, which hides a secret reading room and bathing area. This private realm extends visually to the rear of the site through a glazed wall, which can be opened allowing for sheltered outdoor bathing.

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Kitchen area

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Living space

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Skylight shower room in cantilevered box

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Bathroom

First presented at the arrival platform, the house must be circumambulated before it can be fully understood. At each vantage point the space can be conceived as contained by the existing shell with its double-pitched roof and unaltered openings. The entire house is a continuous yet differentiated volume ? only the washrooms are fully enclosed. A complex series of interconnected and overlapping spaces is set up by the architectural insertion and its projections.

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Downstairs hallway

The insertion is constructed with polycarbonate and steel. This lightweight structure is also the primary source of light in the evening ? inset fittings cause its translucent surfaces to illuminate the spaces, which it generates above, below and between the object and its container.

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The insertion is constructed with polycarbonate and steel.

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Model photo

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Isometric view

Architecture Republic focus on the conceptual research and analysis of projects through design studies in the field of architecture, urbanism and landscape design. We are also interested in interdisciplinary collaborative work in art, graphic design, and theater among others. Architect Maxim Laroussi founded Architecture Republic in 2005. Born in Fez, Morocco, Maxim moved to France at an early age. He graduated from PUC Campinas, Brazil in 1998 and UCD, Dublin in 2002 with a B.Arch. He lived and worked as an architect in various countries including UK, France, Brazil and Ireland before setting up Architecture Republic in Dublin. He was president of the Architectural Association of Ireland from 2005-?‐2006 and currently teaches at the School of Architecture in the University of Limerick in Ireland.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.