16 posts tagged “tectonics”

Passive solar design meets pointillist pincushion in this stunning porcupine-inspired office recently cleared for construction in Prestons, England. Designed by UK-based Moxon Architects, the building features a bristling brise-soleil composed of andonized aluminum fins suspended from tensile rods. This striking facade acts as a rain screen while filtering sunlight and contributing to the building’s energy-efficient profile.

SPAN has been shortlisted at the Swarovski, Crystal Vision competition. Over 4000 entries were received by Designboom for this competition! A description of the contribution: The game Chex, invented by Edelbert Wiedmann, comprises of a hexagonal board bearing 37 hexagons that form the playfield of...

The winery sits at the base of a small hill surmounted by a medieval castle. Bodegas Protos already utilises the subterranean area beneath the castle with more than 2 kilometres of tunnels and galleries used for ageing wine.

Humlegård House is the stark-looking, year-round residence of a former Finnish TV documentary producer. He moved to this house, located in the town of Fiskars, 78 kilometers west of Helsinki, from a central-Helsinki heritage apartment. Many aspects of Humlegård, especially its placement to respond to the forces of nature, resemble the owner’s childhood  home, a large country manor in central Finland.Designed by Kimmo Friman of Friman Laaksonen Architects of Helsinki, Humlegård House is situated on a small, flat hill so that the north-south line runs diagonally through the building. This is the traditional way of placing a building so that it functions optimally as an energy efficient and comfortable dwelling in the harsh, Finnish climate. Protection from the wind and maximum use of sunlight are primary considerations, and the placement of rooms is as much dependent on how much the room needs heat and daylight as it is on how the residents use each space.The floor plan resembles the layout of a traditional peasant farmhouse, split lengthwise into two. The house consists of three multi-function areas: two large living rooms linked by a loft with a bathroom and walk-in closet below.In a typically Finnish fashion, the building appears simple, stark and utilitarian yet exudes a harmonious and stylish form & function sensibility. The owner and architect selected each building material carefully, opting for traditional, natural materials. “I did not want materials of which we did not have decades of experience,” said the owner. Horizontal spruce board – left untreated for maximum structure breathability -- is the main feature of the interior.The spruce-clad outer facade weathers into a beautiful gray color that matches the stark surroundings. The east-facing facade is clad with galvanized corrugated-steel that protects the wall from rain and sun and also reflects excessive sun away in the summer. The placement of windows was determined by the requirements of the interio...

The world should have known that the spawn of Jef Raskin, the “father” of the Macintosh computer, would one day revolutionize a genre of his own - office furniture. Enter the Bloxe, interlocking pieces of cardboard that click together like a life-size lego set to form walls, benches and tables. Aside from its green credentials (far superior to the toxic particle board that most office furniture is made of), the air spaces within the Bloxes help to dampen sound, so you won’t ever have to hear your cubicle mate fighting with her fiancee again! Plus the assemble process looks like a bit of fun if you are mechanically inclined.

This is a Flatpak house in Aspen, Colorado. I stumbled upon these shots in Flickr, so I don't have much background on the project. But we've featured modern Flatpak homes before in the Goodwin-Wise Flatpak and Lazor's Flatpak. Flatpak houses each have their own particular and interesting features, but the Flatpak system is the same. It's a menu of components for living that includes walls, cabinets, bathrooms, kitchen, and various built-ins. The components are pre fabricated and designed to meet the needs of a various owner and/or site.

Ak Malten said: "This, my Friends, is not new to me. This technique has been used for thousands of years to make coal from wood, by heating is to high temp..." [read]Michael Maloney, IBM Media Relations said: "Thank you for posting this article. I just want to point out that the link mentioned above for the IBM Mastering Carbon Management paper points to..." [read]kat said: "the best thing you can do for the environment transportation-wise does not have to do with what kind of car you buy, but with moving closer to work..." [read]Brian said: "I went to battle with the wife several years ago about buying a Kymco People 150. It took a bit of work to convince her it was a good idea - and g..." [read] said: "I've been involved with this project - so can answer a few of the questions. This story is really exciting because this trial paper shows t..." [read]

The age of exploration may be long gone, with every inch of the world scrubbed clean by sat-nav, but we now find ourselves in the age of re-discovery. There are an amazing array of discarded architectural marvels going to waste - ready to be uncovered by the curious eye - left behind by the world, as if it had moved on to better things.

The Vanishing Point, a site dedicated to urban exploration and secrets of the built environment, has a page about the massive abandoned Tailrace tunnel at Niagara Falls. (The entire Vanishing Point site is mesmerizing, rich with great writing and fantastic photography.) Part of the decommissioned Toronto Power Co. hydroelectric plant, the tunnel is ten stories underground and only accessible through a hidden slit in the ceiling. From Vanishing Point: Lying below a river that will relentlessly tear into the bedrock until all has been obliterated from Queenston to Erie, this tunnel thirty-three feet in diameter is imprinted into my being forever. A swirling army of red brick millions strong, the eye of a petrified hurricane leading us right into the centre of the stalled but fighting storm that is Niagara Falls. Standing in its back-blast, in a place far deeper and darker than any middling storm sewer, I breathed and drank from the fount of the universe and swam closer to its centre than I ever will again.Link (via DIGG)

It's an all-too-common complaint that modern prefabricated homes don't fit the utilitarian or economical requirements of the average Joe. Fortunately, these Joes have a sympathetic ear with Rocio Romero. The Missouri-based architect built her first prototype in 2000 as a Chilean vacation home for her parents, and in the last few years has seen a boom in construction of her efficient, inexpensive kit homes, with projects popping up across America.