Magpies 3D Architectural Design : 02/01/2014

February 19, 2014

Harbour Brain Building – Preserving the void of the Venice Arsenale \ C+S associati

HBB architectural design intercepts the atmosphere of the Venice Arsenale: a sequence of void spaces temporararily occupied by objects (the ships) which had to be built, repaired or were simply housed.

The program for the building is that to become the harbour station housing the computers which control the seaport trafic at the new Venice openings following the atcuation of the MOSE project, a kind of brain to manage the trafic, exactly what we called the HBB. Habour Brain Building.

Despite for some meeting rooms and offices, the real inhabitants of this space are the computers, able to manage the trafic during the opening or closing of the port openings.

A hulk made of corten iron is designed inside the square space of the original existing 'teza' of the Arsenale after demolishing the internal partitions and compressing all the techniological and terminal installations inside the new volume and in an underground space.

The void of the 19th century preserved space starts to tell the story of its thresholds: the textures of the walls which are still visible under a thin layer of plaster following the brick surface. This texture is able to capture the light in different ways playing with the wood texture of the different layers which compose the roof structure (trusses, beams and tavellas) which has completely been refurbished.

On the original system the new designed elements are glazed. The glazed vertical panels are designed by very thin structural wood elements able to divide the void space in different rooms though maintaining the atmosphere of the entire space of the 'teza', but enriching the complexity of reflexes on the different materials which stratify and bounce on the existing surfaces.

A part of the roof becomes a contemporary 'lantern of light' made of photovoltaic cells (for the first time used for a reurbishment project in Venice, Italy, together with geothermal pumps) which work as energy producers for the HBB and become the contemporary layer able to play with the lights and the shadows of the existing space but using the most sophisticated technological devices of sustainable architecture.

The technological solution, more than being an opposing and foreign object inside the existing space, try to put itself inside the 'memory of the building', it melts with it, it moulds with matter, materials, colors, light as a new layer of the memory process which for century has stratified the space.

The texture of the photovoltaic cells is able to cut the light in small parts in the same way as it happens for the leaded glass of the windows of the venetian 'salone' or the small colored stone pieces of the ancient venetian floors. The photovoltaic cells act both as energy productors (the maximum power is 4,8 kWp) as well as brise-soleil.

For the climatization of the ground floor there is a central installation with heating pumps linked to geothermy (60 meters deep) experimented in Venice for the first time.

The installation project is able to preserve the void space: the technological installation become as silent as possible in this project appearing just as small round brass spots on the wood floor which in fact are electrical terminals able to be opened to link to.

The air treating is made by two small power stations in the underground floor. The air canals are setlled under the floating floor with the air outgoing placed along the walls and the air incoming on the edge of the corten volume.

The server computer room is located underground, due to the strict climatic condition required from the devices (22 °C e 45% of humidity). These specific conditions were obtained by a special close control apparatus, with high specific power called CRAC, with warm and cold air distribution corridors passing through the floating floors.

+ Project credits / data

Client: Magistrato alle Acque di Venezia tramite il suo concessionario Consorzio Venezia Architectural design and artistic supervision: Carlo Cappai, Maria Alessandra Segantini_C+S ASSOCIATI

General design, structures and installations: Thetis S.p.A.

Site Supervision: Giovanni Zarotti, Thetis S.p.A.

Construction: ICCEM, Venice

Photos: Pietro Savorelli

Design: 2009

Completion: 2011

+ All images and drawings courtesy C+S Associati | Photo by Pietro Savorelli

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February 17, 2014

New York Tower \ Photography by Veronica Morales

Veronica Morales shared with us her photography of the residential tower in Manhattan by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. The tower features 265 metre-high and is now the eighth tallest building in New York (the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere).

+ Photography: Veronica Morales | http://www.veronicamoralesangulo.com/

+ All images courtesy Veronica Morales

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February 15, 2014

One Hotel in Dalmine \ Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners

The ONE HOTEL in Dalmine (Bergamo), designed by the Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners architecture studio, is located in a strategic position close to the A4 highway, Orio al Serio international airport, and the historic city of Bergamo. Oriented toward business travellers requiring hospitality services for varying lengths of time, the hotel offers comfortable, graciously fitted out rooms, elegant and functional facilities for conventions and meetings, as well as a bar/bistro, restaurant, and fitness center.

The Rome-based Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners studio conceived the ONE HOTEL as a dark gray parallelepiped animated by three projecting planes: the two vertical main sides of the hotel, suspended above the base; and the horizontal roof slab, faced in Alucobond® panels.

From the first floor upwards, the long white southeast side of the hotel is protected by an outer envelope made of expanded metal mesh spaced at a slight distance from the inner façade. This element is composed of panels fixed in an open or closed position to create a rhythmic pattern while performing the function of a brise-soleil system for the rooms.

This cadenced rhythm is repeated on the ground floor, where the pillars and windows alternate in a precise order.

The top floor, on the other hand, has broad windows that give a feeling of lightness to the long luminous hallway running the length of the building and giving access to the rooms.

The short northeast side of the building is characterized by a built-to-design emergency stairway with expanded metal mesh rails, underscoring the aesthetic idiom, somewhere between modern minimalism and functionalism, expressed throughout the structure.

The ONE HOTEL, designed by Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners, stands somewhat lower than the road level. The pedestrian area along the main façade is separated from the roadway by a white travertine bench, contrasting with the gray bush-hammered basalt paving stones. The entrance is accented by a large gray sheet-metal canopy.

The hotel's three residential floors offer eight single rooms, forty doubles and two junior suites. The décor is characterized by a prevalence of white and ecru, with the exception of the suites, which combine dark gray and white. The private baths in the rooms are finished in travertine marble with smooth gray basalt floors to ensure continuity between interior and exterior.

With the architectural design of ONE HOTEL, using a very simple basic structure, the Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners architecture studio has created a building rich in detail and features that both give it character and make it highly functional, perfectly complementing the philosophy of the hotel itself.

+ Project credits / data

Client: Fabiani SpA

Site: Dalmine (Bergamo)

Job: design and construction of ONE HOTEL

Project site: 3800 sqm total; 2220 sqm hotel; 450 sqm underground parking facility; 100 sqm terrace

Start of work: 2008

End of work: 2010

Architectural design: Massimo Alvisi, Junko Kirimoto, Arabella Rocca, Chiara Quadraccia, Carolina Ossandon – Studio Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners.

Program: Hotel

+ About Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners

The Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners architecture studio was founded in 2002 by Massimo Alvisi and Junko Kirimoto after the two architects had participated in important projects with renowned international studios such as those of Renzo Piano, Massimiliano Fuksas, and Oscar Niemeyer.

In 2008, Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners added engineering capabilities by bringing in the partners Alessandra Spiezia and Arabella Rocca. With a staff of twelve professionals, Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners perform architectural design and engineering, feasibility studies, and project management for their own projects and for those of renowned architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Renzo Piano.

Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners have performed numerous projects in the design and remodeling of auditoriums, theatres, industrial complexes and office buildings, as well as important projects in shop and restaurant design, residential architecture and interior design, and exhibition and museum design.

Competitions and prizes:

winner of the competition "Meno è più di 4": daycare center, civic center and library in Rome;

winner of the international competition for the restoration and remodeling of the Teatro

Comunale of Corato (Bari, Italy), currently in progress;

prize in the international competition for Small Railway Stations;

prize for the design of the rowing canal in Madrid's bid to host the 2016 summer Olympic Games;

prize for the invitation-only competition for the Giustiniano Imperatore area in Rome.

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February 14, 2014

Hotel Villa \ Uri Cohen architects

This is a preservation and an extension of a historic heritage monument on the first street in Yessod Hammala, which was built by the 'pioneers' in the late 19th century. It's located in a tourist area and this makes it possible (or at least part of it) to be used in the future as a boutique hotel or for another commercial use. This was the prime reason of creating one long corridor crossing the entire site which connects all kind of (outside) spaces that can be joined or rejoined in different phases for the future. The complex can by used as one, two or even three living units, one house with commercial space or guest rooms or even the whole complex as one hotel.

The facades of the historical house has been preserved; however, the scheme introduces a split level space, halfway dug in the ground in order not to exceed the height of the historic house. This split level space gives the (outside) spaces privacy from the (touristy) street as well as the possibility to have some higher spaces open to the breeze during warm evenings.

The new edition to the old house has been constructed as a floating box above the ground floor, which gives shade and protection for the main living space below on the ground floor. The ground floor itself has been designed as if the landscape goes continuously across the whole yard while partially enclosed by glass walls. This 'modern box' is being supported by stone fences which are so typical on this street.