moments savoured two

More from Guido Argentini

moments savoured

For the next few post, celebrating the end of summer (was there even summer this year?!), I'm going to share with you some fabulous pictures from the photographer Guido Argentini. I know its a tad bit different from traditional Architecture but looking closer; his intimate spatial concepts are very much similar to our daily life. Ahem!

waters edge

Lahznimmo Architects and Spackman and Mossop Landscape architects formed a joint venture (LNSM) to provide the Sydney Catchment Authority with architectural, urban design and landscape services for the preparation of the Warragamba Dam Masterplan. The Visitor Centre and Operations Complex is located at the end of Haviland Park, to take advantage of the spectacular location which overlooks Warragamba Dam. The building has two primary functions; firstly to Haviland Park and the second to the Spillway and Dam wall. For Haviland Park, the landscape is emphasised and the building is downplayed and sunk down from the park level allowing the existing vista through Haviland Park to be maintained. The Architects left the landform to allow a gently rise creating a new green horizon line at the end of the vista. Looking from the cliff, the building is more expressive and as it hovers dramatically on the edge of the cliff face with a series of public viewing platforms which utilise the different rock shelf levels. The building comprises two key components; the first is a Visitor Information Centre with a large multi purpose education room and exhibition component and the second is the Operations Complex which contains the Sydney Catchments Authority’s Communications Unit.

arthur, my lord

Roger Federer by Annie Leibovitz

chalk cliff

Fran Silvestre Arquitectos's project proposes to integrate into the environment, adaptating to the environment and materials away from the usual misleading historicism. The central idea that the house is conceived as a piece placed on the ground, joining in the gap. The house is built on the same white lime with an several openings that takes the edge off of the site by having holes within the structure thus somehow integrating it as a fragmentation of the surrounding. The Architects divided the interior space created by the void that is the core of space. The garage and cellar is located on the ground floor with two floors above it. This two floors houses a study, bedrooms, kitchen and amenities.

what floor did we park?

Located in Soissons close by the famous Saint Jean-de-la Vigne abbey, the new 600 space capacity Les Yeux Verts multi-storey car park is fundamental to the project redeveloping the Gouraud barracks into a modern business park. Jacques Ferrier Architectures have created a concrete structure, galvanised steel framework and timber cladding car park that takes the form of a contemporary yet highly restrained urban infrastructure. The style of the building is based on a clearly affirmed structure overlaid by a pleated openwork timber envelope that lightly and delicately clads the entire car park. On each level, a slit opens up in the envelope to provide views from the inside over the urban landscape of the town. The Architects have added subtle visual variations using a single retified spruce slat module by adjusting the rhythm and angling of the slats, stepping away from the façades, using solids and voids, and incorporating light and transparency into the construction. The resulting effect creates a dynamic, vibrant façades that give the car park a strong image within the town’s urban fabric. Adding to that, the Architects have also created the signage from a series of 10 photographic images that, borrowing from the 'memory' game used by Charles Eames, allows users to mentally associate the area where their cars are parked with an atmosphere, a sensation and a visual reference point. Truly a great idea!

pink panther

Philippe Stuebi notes that:

'the expressive volumetry emerged thanks to the special form of the plot and the requirement of the constructor to place a maximal volume on the plot. With the method of the hollowing out the room program and the sculptural building body became incorporated. The sketch development was a work of lining up the demanded areas to a movement going through the house: stretch, widths, narrowing, grinding out from mass to a coherent sequence of space according to the principle of the enfilade. Each area remains its completely specific character in size and form (conical entry area with clothes and guest wc.,large cubic double-story entrance hall, triangular loggia as color area, double-story inside rounded library which is downstairs three sided glazed, etc.) so that when entering the house various and surprising, only in moving itself the opening space experiences occur. The basement consists of large washing concrete elements (white carrara marble ball with white cement) which are interupted by space-high glazings. The three-sided glazing of the library in the basement ist reflected. Depending upon time of day and lighting conditions you can see the stored books or the reflected garden. The upper floors are implemented in bright lime finish and the glazings in nature-anodized aluminium.'

onion rings and ranch sauce

Temple Ranch is the seasonal retreat for its owners, who have for two decades passionately worked to manage, restore, and preserve the native habitat of this place in South Texas.Andersson Wise Architects realised that the building program outlined the importance of making buildings that promote social interaction and quiet contemplation, therefore the Architects have considered the gentle sloping terrain, natural air-conditioning offered by prevailing breezes, and the ever-present sun. 

The result from their study have created structures with deep open porches that appear to be carved out of the exterior brick volumes, revealing transparent walls that slide open to the rooms inside. The buildings are organized around an open courtyard with a large swimming pool and spa, oriented to take advantage of the prevailing breezes during the hot Texas summers.

bebop and blues

Kenny Burrell  - Montono Blues

brasilia

A Marcio Kogan  house in Brazil that epitomise the cinematographic atmosphere of space. The entrance of the house and the living-room completely opens to the entire house, creating cross-ventilation and an area of continuum space that is totally free. There is no structural interference in this space. The living room opens to a delicate wooden-floored garden with a reflecting pool and minimum vegetation. On the first floor, the Architects have created a private space and the second floor consists of a low-down social space to enhance the spatial quality.

decline decline decline

Some things never change...

tie me up

Tonight , Brunette and I will sit in with Mike Figgis on bass and trumpet with pianist and performance artist Rosey Chan, playing a combination of classical works from Ravel and Scriabin with a journey through jazz staples from Mingus to Bix Beiderbecke. Should make for an interesting night watching the two partners working together on stage. 

To those lacking contemporary culture, Mike Figgis is multi-talented Hollywood director notably for Leaving Las Vegas, The Loss of Sexual Innocence, adverts for Sony Ericsson and Agent Provocateur and other various films. To top that of, he is a photographer as well.

naked outpost

The Architects made a remarkable contribution to public space utilization in Liberec, Czech Republic by constructing a public sauna in their city of residence without a legal permit for construction and surprising everyone in the city. The site of an abandoned dam took 5 days and building time was 8 hours. No legal permit was issued and the entire thing was kept secret. The bank of the dam is in public ownership of the municipality; the abandoned concrete structure as well the dam itself is owned by Povodí Labe, state administrator of watercourses of the Labe river. Neither of the authorities had any idea of what was about to happen. Bravo chaps!! This is how Architecture should be presented from now on. Forget about the red tape.

yummy yum yum

What

1 Shot Light Rum

1 Shot Dark Rum

1 Shot Orgeat

1 Shot Triple Sec

6 Shots Pinneapple Juice

Grenadine

Malibu

Ice cubes

How (Take a nice six glass 8oz)

1 shot of light rum matched with orgeat. Add 1 shot of dark rum. Add triple sec. Fill to your taste of pineapple juice. Add a couple cubes of ice. Add a touch of grenadine and finally top with malibu to start off right.

תֵּבַת נֹחַ‎

Architectural Bureau G.Natkevicius Partners was called for by a client who is an entrepreneur in the agricultural production business (ie: chickens, pigs rearing) to build them a 3 person family home. The house was built on the Minija valley slope in Lithuania. The Architects have made the home an image of  Noah‘s ship where the family with all their belongings and animals moved from the city. An interesting perspective I might say.

the legend lives on

Michael Douglas aka Gordon Gecko by Annie Leibovitz
 

a friends gift

Nuno Brandao Costa designed this house for a close friend. The site is situated in a rural lanscape thus all of the built space was kept at ground level in two separate concrete volumes, grazing against the existing granite wall that set the geometry of the plan. The bedrooms, kitchen, office and garage were condensed tightly together plus sliding doors and panels with very wide openings to the outside. The scale of the site was always present this project as with its very large living room and private suite a floor above. Concrete, plaster with iron oxide, solid wooden frames, old Riga wood flooring, stainless-steel sheet-covering, irregular granite stone are all chosen for the construction of the house and its paths.