River North is a lively neighborhood in the Near North Side. It boasts luxe shops and eateries, plus posh nightclubs and cocktail bars. Opened in 1930 in a former industrial area, the sprawling Merchandise Mart attracts throngs of shoppers to its home and office design showrooms. Surrounding the Mart, artist’s studios in converted warehouses and lofts form a hub that sustains the area’s foremost art galleries.
Today Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects returns to Architectural Digest for a deep, detail-oriented break down of New York City’s singular Chrysler Building. From its unmistakable Art Deco design to the hidden details that echo its automotive inspiration, see why the Chrysler Building is an iconic staple of the Manhattan skyline.
The story of the Chrysler Building began in 1928, when automotive titan Walter P. Chrysler, founder of Chrysler Corporation, bought the property from Coney Island developer William H. Reynolds for $2 million. Chrysler hired architect William Van Alen, who had previously designed a skyscraper for Reynolds on the site, to create the world’s tallest tower. Construction on Chrysler’s project began in 1929 and was completed in 1930. Reaching a height of 1,048 feet, including its 125-foot steel spire, the Chrysler Building surpassed the Woolworth Building and 40 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan in a “Race to the Sky” to claim the tallest building in the world–a title it held until 1931. The Chrysler Building still reigns as the world’s most famous skyscraper, playing prominent roles in film and television from Godzilla and Spider-Man to Sex and the City.
The Military History Museum in Dresden, Saxony is one of very few museums in Germany that has German war equipment from both World Wars. Some of the most famous large items in the museum include a V2 flying bomb and Germany’s first submarine. The museum aims to explain how the military, armies and war influenced politics and society, and vice versa.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Sustainable Home 00:30 – The Architect and The Home Owner 01:00 – The Location 01:19 – A Walkthrough of the Sustainable Home 01:40 – Expanding Spaces Through Shapes 02:27 – A Seamless Connection of Inside and Outside 02:47 – A Home that Sits Quietly and Calmly 03:00 – Using Local Manufacturers 03:21 – Maximising the Benefits of the Natural Elements 04:01 – An Entirely Electric Home 04:13 – Climate Change Impacts and Planning for the Future 04:48 – Minimising Footprints
Sitting atop the land, House at Otago Bay looks out toward the bay and as far as Mount Wellington – offering the owners a home that is flush with the landscape. Modest upon arrival, House at Otago Bay is positioned at the end of the drive with its back towards neighbours and its front facing the opposite bush reserve.
Made of locally sourced bricks, bushfire-resistant timber and glass, the home’s design showcases a passion for building sustainably for the present and future. Entering the home at the main living level, Topology Studio has designed the space to open and focus on unrivalled views of the bay. Though sitting on a narrow site, the insertion of unique architectural and design choices inside a home, such as the continuous curved ceiling, help the home to branch outwards and avoid being marginalised by frames. Stairs that sit off to the side lead down to the lower ground floor, in which a bedroom and ensuite have been partially set into the foundation of the home, offering a distinctive view out across the grass and towards the water’s edge.
With a seamless connection that isn’t often seen inside a home, the external façade blurs the lines between inside and out and adds a layer of connection to the surrounding environment. Sitting quietly and calmly upon the land, the architects have chosen to use tones that reference the rocks, water and greenery of the landscape. Using locally sourced and produced materials inside and out took away the need to import from overseas, avoiding unnecessarily increasing the home’s carbon footprint during construction.
After specifying the Tasmanian brick, Topology Studio positioned the building to maximise sunlight during winter and shield the inside during the summer, while also taking advantage of the expansive views. To cater to the changing temperature inside a home, the masonry and concrete floor provide a high level of thermal mass through the seasons and take away the need for external heating technology.
House at Otago Bay is supplied electricity by the solar panels on the boat house – taking away any need for gas and minimising running costs and impact on the environment. Though inside a home can be thought of as sustainable, Topology Studio has taken the extra step to respect the environment by providing robust materials across both outside and inside – proving that homes can provide longevity for its owners in sustainable and eco-friendly ways
Completed in the late 19th century by architect Henri Labrouste, the library is considered a masterpiece of the Beaux Arts style, with vast, skylit reading rooms framed by slender steel columns and highly decorative arches.
Suspended between two beautiful California hills, this remodel spans a creek and boasts a waterfall in the back yard.
To build such a house anew is no longer allowed in California, but following strict guidelines, we reconceived an existing structure, transforming the relationships between home, water and land. A steel frame inserted beneath the original floors anchors the home to the rocky hillsides, thus allowing us to remove supporting columns from within the creek bed.
A human-made object in nature may exist in harmony or disparity. Our goal was to deepen this home’s connection to the environment, creating a place where our clients can live immersed within an exceptional landscape. Taking care to protect and restore the land, we suspended the renovated house between two wooded hills, where it overlooks a rushing waterfall and spans the creek below.
A third floor addition strikes a more slender profile facing east, to engage the breadth of the site. The experience is one of being in nature and also humbled by it.
The goal with this unique site was to enhance the relationship of the structure to the nearby bodies of water and the rock face. Rather than bearing down and disturbing the creek below, the new structural system has been anchored to the bedrock within the flanks of the hill, suspending the home
From the history behind the towering art deco 30 Rockefeller Plaza to the iconic ice skating rink and smaller details you may not be aware of, come along as Adam explores and explains everything there is to know about Rockefeller Plaza.
The architectural intervention is daring and aims at a harmonious connection with the surrounding space and landscape, without spoiling it; throughout plays of tension with shapes and insertion into the vegetation. In order to reach this goal, curved weathering steel blades are positioned so that, in perspective, they go beyond the woods in the south and direct the units and the view towards the lake. The radius of curvature is measured so that the sagitta of the chord of the circle doesn’t exceed 1 mm per linear metre, making thus the interiors furnishable and going back to a human scale, just like the dualism produced by Richard Serra’s sculptures.
Because of the steepness, we created two different blocks in order to further guarantee the view of the lake to the properties, divided by a system of main and secondary blades to create an internal and subordinate subdivision of the units. The insertion of the vegetation was inspired by New York’s High Line which scratches the pavement just like the blades do. This logic was transposed into our project both horizontally and vertically, thus the blades represent at the same time both a boundary and a bridge.
Lizard Island is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, 1,624-kilometre northwest of Brisbane and part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island. It is part of the Lizard Island National Park. Lizard Island is within the locality of Lizard in the Cook Shire.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Most Brilliant Architectural Home 00:26 – Playing with Light and Shadow 00:44 – Creating a Family Home 01:47 – Filtering Through the Concrete Shroud 02:00 – Views From Each Living Space 02:24 – The Original Brief 02:59 – A Quick but Complex Build 04:14 – Emulating A Sanctuary with Other Worldly Vibes 04:30 – The Skin of the Building 04:46 – A Balancing Act with The Materials 05:05 – Returning to the Project 05:26 – Proud Moments
Over an 18-month building process, Flux Construction and Edition Office have created a house unlike other modern architectural homes. First seen from the outside, Hawthorn House appears as a monolithic structure yet, on the inside, the family home becomes a private sanctuary for its owners. Similar to other modern architectural homes, Hawthorn House suffered from lack of privacy in its suburban location.
To respond to this need, Edition Office has pushed the skin of the building out from the glass line, which allows for both privacy and the softening of light. Upstairs has been provided more privacy through light volumes, a structural choice between the buildings form and glass line that open up to the sky. Furthermore, the light volumes also provide advantageous views and the experience of seeing the seasons as they change.
Employing unique interior design choices that allow for ease of living, the architect and interior designer have configured downstairs as one singular platform. Offering different experiences, each living area has a differing focus. From the front pavilion, the homing in on the northern light and established lemon gum tree offers the owners a space to connect with their surrounds. Experienced in the more intimate rear pavilion, an inward focus of the home brings a soft and warming essence to the interior. Celebrating the structural form of modern architectural homes, Edition Office and Flux Construction operated with a concise approach when completing the house.
Through the connection of materials, the home is a celebration of concrete, timber and glass, which is observed immediately from the exterior shell. Equally as important as the home, the evolving landscape offers a place of cognitive restoration. With a mixed use of exotic species and natives, the green life helps to provide a comforting space that will continue to grow in place. Over the modern architectural home’s form, Edition Office has provided its clients with complete privacy through a humble material palette and lush landscaping.
Boomers Daily 