Tag Archives: Architects

Video Profiles: “Remote, Subarctic Backdrops” Of Nova Scotia Architect Omar Gandhi (NY Times)

Omar Gandhi Nova Scotia Architect
Nova Scotia Architect Omar Gandhi

Though Gandhi’s projects are dramatically different in form, such consideration of their remote, subarctic backdrop connects them to one another — they “look like they could only be in Nova Scotia,” he says.

EVERY FEW DAYS, the Canadian architect Omar Gandhi migrates between Toronto, his hometown, and Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, where he opened his eponymous firm in 2010. A year and a half ago, Gandhi added New Haven to his weekly peregrinations — he was teaching a seminar at the Yale School of Architecture called Where the Wild Things Are, after Maurice Sendak’s 1963 children’s book.

Rabbit+Snare+Gorge+Cabin+-+Doublespace+009

New York Times Style Magazine logoFor the final project of the semester, the professor took his class to the wind-swept island of Cape Breton (a glove-shaped appendage separated from Nova Scotia’s main peninsula by the narrow Strait of Canso) to visit Rabbit Snare Gorge — his 2013 project with the New York-based architecture firm Design Base 8 — a slender cabin that stretches 43 feet tall, like a 16th-century Mannerist portrait. Touring the surrounding plot, a 47-acre wooded slope bisected by the creek that gives the house its name, Gandhi, 40, asked his students to conceive a “campus of creatures” — a set of structures that, as he described it when we met at his Halifax studio last summer, “have an attitude and respond and look like they move.”

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Home Design: Flexible, Eco-Friendly Modular Homes In Costa Rica By ÚBÁLI TROPICAL LIVING

The proposal is inspired by the experiences lived in the mountains of Costa Rica. The intimate nest form comes into communication with nature so that guests have privacy and dialogue with the space around them. Its flexible structure allows it to adapt to sloping terrain, dense forests and humid tropical climates.

Ubali Costa Rica Modular Home Model 1.0 Kabek
Ubali Costa Rica Modular Home Model 1.0 Kabek

The cabin includes all the electro-mechanical installations, the septic tank and the facilities necessary for its operation. The modulation of the cabins allows to make certain adjustments to shorten or enlarge the cab according to changing needs. The structure is lightweight in metal construction with an external lining in industrial zinc and internal walls in gypsum and densglass.

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Innovative Homes: “The Coach House” In London Filled An 11-Foot Gap With An Open Light Infill House

The Coach House, is a four bedroom new build infill house.

Selencky Parsons Architects logo

The Coach House by Selencky Parsons architects London Infill house back yard

A triple height light well brings light deep into the heart of the narrow plot which unexpectedly opens out to create a spacious open plan living space which engages with the large rear garden.

The Coach House by Selencky Parsons architects London Infill house upstairs bedroom

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Profiles: The Minimalist Aesthetic Of London Architect John Pawson

From a The Modern House online article:

“Simplicity in architecture can sometimes only be achieved by the most complex of means.”

John Pawson Anatomy of Minimum PHAIDON Publishing 2019British architectural designer John Pawson has, in a career spanning over three decades, created an inimitable body of work characterized by its distillment of the fundamental ingredients of architecture into their most elemental, elegant expressions.

His design practice, which began primarily with residential commissions, now extends to churches, museums, ballet sets, textiles, kitchenware and furniture. Despite his minimalistArchitect John Pawson approach, Pawson is sensitive to the intimate rituals of daily life and his buildings are far from austere: instead, they elegantly make the case for the clarity and freedom to be found in the act of reduction.

In a new book published by Phaidon, writer Alison Morris explores Pawson’s most recent projects, shedding light on his working process and influences accompanied by stunning photographs, drawings and imagery from his personal journal.

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Top 2019 Home Designs: “Himchori Residence” In Bangladesh By River & Rain Ltd. Architects

Himchori Residence Interior River & Rain LtdThe two and half-storied ‘Vacation Villa’ in Himchori marine drive is a holiday destination amidst the natural setup of hills and sea. The existing topography inspired project is an alluring statement of contemporary architecture in Bangladesh. The purpose of the villa as a place of vacationing is well served as it ensemble two exquisite natural proponent of the site; sea and hills within its built premise. Knotting multiple forces of nature within a space to create and balance the desired psychological mood of relaxation for user was the challenge.

Himchori Residence Overhead View River & Rain Ltd

The composite structure of the project is well displayed to its true expression.  The RCC structure of east and west wing have been adjoined centrally with steel structure.  The sturdy sleek steel frame refurbished with glass is the central segment of the form. Recycled  and vintage materials used in various spaces of the villa have added sophistication without making it much ornate.

Architects website

Video Profiles: London Architect Richard Found In His Cotswold Retreat

When designer Richard Found discovered the dream plot on which to build his serene contemporary retreat overlooking a lake, he didn’t bet on what happened next. In the grounds stood a derelict 18th-century gamekeeper’s cottage, which was immediately spot-listed by Historic England. “It changed the whole dynamic of what I thought would be a straightforward new-build project, and became a far more arduous planning exercise.”…

House Proud is a series of videos created by the Telegraph which showcase some of Britain’s most idiosyncratic, quirky, unusual and unforgettable homes. A celebration of British eccentricity and imagination, in each film the owner gives us an intimate guided tour and tells us the story of their unique property.

Richard Found's Radical Retreat Gloucestershire England The Telegraphy Video January 16 2020

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New Architecture Books: “Traces of J. B. Jackson – The Man Who Taught Us to See Everyday America”

Traces of J.B. Jackson The Man Who Taught Us To See Everday America Helen L. HorowitzAfter a varied life of traveling, writing, sketching, ranch labor, and significant service in army intelligence in World War II, Jackson moved to New Mexico and single-handedly created the magazine Landscape. As it grew under his direction throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Landscape attracted a wide range of contributors. Jackson became a man in demand as a lecturer and, beginning in the late 1960s, he established the field of landscape studies at Berkeley, Harvard, and elsewhere, mentoring many who later became important architects, planners, and scholars.

J. B. Jackson transformed forever how Americans understand their landscape, a concept he defined as land shaped by human presence. In the first major biography of the greatest pioneer in landscape studies, Helen Horowitz shares with us a man who focused on what he regarded as the essential American landscape, the everyday places of theHarvard Design Magazine Fall 1998 countryside and city, exploring them as texts that reveal important truths about society and culture, present and past. In Jackson’s words, landscape is “history made visible.”

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Horowitz brings this singular person to life, revealing how Jackson changed our perception of the landscape and, through friendship as well as his writings, profoundly influenced the lives of many, including her own.

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New Architecture Books: “Gaudí – The Complete Works” By Rainer Zerbst

Gaudí. The Complete Works Rainer Zerbst Hardcover Book Taschen January 29 2020Through brand-new photography, plans and drawings by Gaudí himself, historical photos, as well as an appendix detailing all his works—from buildings to furniture, decor to unfinished projects—this book presents Gaudí’s universe like never before. Like a personal tour through Barcelona, we discover how the “Dante of architecture” was a builder in the truest sense of the word, crafting extraordinary constructions out of minute and mesmerizing details, and transforming fantastical visions into realities on the city streets.

The life of Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) was full of complexity and contradictions. As a young man he joined the Catalonian nationalist movement and was critical of the church; toward the end of his life he devoted himself completely to the construction of one single spectacular church, La Sagrada Familia. In his youth, he courted a glamorous social life and the demeanor of a dandy. By the time of his death in a tram accident on the streets of Barcelona his clothes were so shabby passersby assumed he was a beggar.

Gaudi Book Taschen

Taschen Publishing LogoGaudí’s incomparable architecture channels much of this multifaceted intricacy. From the shimmering textures and skeletal forms of Casa Batlló to the Hispano-Arabic matrix of Casa Vicens, his work merged the influences of Orientalism, natural forms, new materials, and religious faith into a unique Modernista aesthetic. Today, his unique aesthetic enjoys global popularity and acclaim. His magnum opus, the Sagrada Familia, is the most-visited monument in Spain, and seven of his works are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The author

Rainer Zerbst studied modern languages at the University of Tübingen and in Wales from 1969 to 1975. From 1976 to 1982 he worked as a research assistant in the Department of English at the University of Tübingen. Since completing his doctorate in 1982, Zerbst has been active as a critic in the fields of art, literature, and theater.

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Architects: Stanton Williams’ “Fitzroy Park House” Best English Home 2019 (Modern House)

From a The Modern House online article:

 Fitzroy Park, London N6
Stanton Williams Fitzroy Park House London interior 2019A stunning 6,200 sq ft space, this remarkable and sprawling house rises up through its surrounding landscaped gardens. Described by the Architects’ Journal as having a “beguilingly cave-like relationship to the outside world”, it is a bold vision of contemporary architecture in which the natural world has been thoroughly entwined with the design.

https://www.stantonwilliams.com/projects/fitzroy-park/

Stanton Williams Architects LogoRecline by the pool, listen to the artificial stream winding its way through the gardens, meander across the footbridge: this home was conceived for those long, dreamy summer days.

Stanton Williams Fitzroy Park House London sketch 2019

The Modern House logo

To read more: https://www.themodernhouse.com/sales-list/fitzroy-park/

Interviews: 84-Year Old British Architect Norman Foster On His First High-Tech Building (Video)

“High-tech is something to do with the expression of the technology – the means by which the building stands,” the award-winning architect told Dezeen in an exclusive interview at his London practice.

Dezeen Video InterviewsBritish architect Norman Foster reflects on his first high-tech building and how it shaped offices to come, in this exclusive video produced by Dezeen. Named after the electronics manufacturer that commissioned the building,

Reliance Controls was an industrial facility located in Swindon in Southwest England. Completed in 1967, the building was the last to be designed by Team 4, an architecture practice comprising Foster, Richard Rogers, Su Brumwell and Wendy Cheesman, before the group disbanded. The single-storey rectangular shed, which was designed to house the company’s factory and offices, was one of the first buildings labelled as high-tech – a style of architecture that Foster defines as a celebration of a building’s functional components.

Reliance Controls was the first building to dissolve the traditional boundaries between factory workers and office workers. “There was only a glass screen that would separate the assembly line for electronics from those who are managing the sales force,” said Foster. “They would all share the same kitchen and dining facilities, the same bathrooms. That we take for granted now but at that time it was it was really revolutionary – unheard of.”

Website: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/12/13/norman-foster-reliance-controls-video-interview/