Archinect - News

Space Saloon and Designers on Holiday to take a "DeSaturated" look at water scarcity using desert-based design-build workshop

2020-03-06T19:33:00-05:00

Looking for a unique design-build experience this summer? Well, you're in luck because non-profit design laboratory Space Saloon has announced its third annual design-build festival, DeSaturated. Created in collaboration with design studio and campsite residency group Designers on Holiday and rural resilience group Blue Sky Center, the eight-day design festival aims to bring a one-of-a-kind immersive experience that is open to all students and young design professionals within the disciplines of art, design, and architecture.

The festival invites individuals to experience a hands-on approach to architectural research, experimentation, and prototyping. Spanning over eight days in New Cayama, California, this year's design brief focuses on water scarcity.

Space Saloon tool training. Photo © Daniel Schwartz

Blue Sky Center. Photo © Alex Nye

According to the program's directors, Danny Wills and Gian Maria Socci, "Participants will engage directly with a diverse group of interdisciplinary...

Mountaineer's Refuge provides a home base for trekking in Chile

2018-01-04T16:04:00-05:00

Located in San Esteban, Chile, the Mountaineer's Refuge was designed by Gonzalo Iturriaga Arquitectos as a small cabin to be a point of arrival and departure for mountaineer treks. The space functions as a shelter and lookout for contemplation and relaxation and requires only the bare necessities for a mountain expedition rest stop: a roof, kitchen, bedroom, mountaineering equipment storage, and stunning panoramic views.

With a pine finished exterior, cuts and folds define the structure's access points. Mountaineer's Refuge rests on piles, making it a self-contained object suspended above the ground. The building is ventilated on all sides provided from the mountain's updraft into a series of dedicated openings.

The "tectonic bravery" of NBBJ's Nanjing Eco-Tech Exhibition Centre

2017-05-18T14:11:00-04:00

Symbolizing mountain ranges in architecture has the potential for a dramatic, iconic payoff, especially when the materials used to do so play an integral role in the interior experience of the building (think: the fabric peaks of the Denver International Airport, which allude to the Rocky Mountains and Native American settlements while providing ample natural light). NBBJ's Nanjing Eco-Tech Exhibition Centre manages not only to reference the Zhong and Stone Mountains with its eight-peaked, light cannon rooftop, but also represent the economic ascension of Nanjing itself.

Each peak drives light through the four principal floors of the structure, weaving instances of what the architects describe as "tectonic bravery" throughout. This bravery becomes the signature characteristic of the structure. While the Exhibition Centre lists a typical compliment of sustainable 21st century amenities (roof garden, integrated water retention and distribution, natural ventilation, responsive facades,...

Japan's Magical Mountainside

2017-04-02T14:44:00-04:00

There is Makoto Yamaguchi’s Polygon House, a quasi-Brutalist geode of distressed steel and glass that perches on a hill in a forest like an abandoned space pod; the concrete, glass and larch wood Omizubata N House by Iida Archiship Studio, as well as TNA’s Passage, Ring and Stage House(s)

Hanya Yanagihara visited the mountain town of Karuizawa, which has a collection of houses designed by prominent Japanese architects.

BUREAU A's Swiss alpine cabin lets you camp out inside a boulder

2014-12-17T14:49:00-05:00

Up in the slopes of the Swiss village Verbier in the Alps, BUREAU A's "Antoine" is a little wooden cabin hidden inside a concrete rock that camouflages with its environment. Inspired by Swiss cultural elements like the literature of iconic writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, hidden bunkers, and the unique experience of living in an alpine landscape, "Antoine" looks like one comfy, cool space to get away from it all — with a hint of adventure.

BUREAU A provided more detail into their latest project:

"The mountains have the power to call for feelings of fascination and fear at the same time. Switzerland has a strong tradition of observing the Alps, living with them, hiding inside them. The awe and the anxiety that this monumental landscape appeals is reflected in the writings of Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, one of the most important Swiss writers. His novels, Derborence, describes the massive rock fall that covered the pastures of the valley of Lizerne in 1714. Antoine, the main character, surv...

Winner of the 2012 SLEEP European Hotel Design Award: Hotel Valentiner Hof by noa*

2013-01-07T15:44:00-05:00

At the annual SLEEP European Hotel Design Awards, the project "Hotel Valentiner Hof" in Castelrotto, Italy was recently named the 2012 winner in the category "Conversion And/Or Extension Of An Existing Hotel Building." Architects of the hotel conversion was the young firm noa*, based in Bolzano in Northern Italy.