Archinect - News

A submerged Japanese library by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP as a ‘tranquil place’ for reading and rest

2023-11-29T11:53:00-05:00

Japan-based Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP has offered a look inside their recently completed Library of the Earth. Situated in the Japanese city of Kisarazu, and completed in April 2022, the library is described by the firm as “the library for the farmers, plowing the fields on sunny days and reading books on rainy days.”

Image credit: Koji Fujii / TOREAL

Located in the corner of an active agricultural site, the scheme saw Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP transform a debris-laced plot into a “lush valley.” At the core of the project is a submerged library designed with the principle that “architecture should not occupy the cultivated soil layer but rather exist humbly under the flourishing of plants and microorganisms in the soil.”

Plan credit: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Section credit: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

“The earth has been regarded as the source of all life and a symbol of motherhood,” the team explains. “Our wish was to make a small cleft in the earth and create a tr...

This recently sold home in Arizona beats the desert heat by being entirely underground

2022-03-28T18:31:00-04:00

This house on the real estate market in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $2.1 million is throwing some serious shade — in the coolest way possible. How? The “one-of-a-kind” property is basically all underground, but not in “bunker” fashion.

The 3,300-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom home is described as an “earth-sheltered subterranean home” designed “to create highly efficient living.” According to its listing on real-estate marketplace Zillow, the residence was built in the 1970s, designed in response to high costs and the energy crises at the time.

The home's interior courtyard. Image: Zillow

It features a central courtyard that provides natural light and air to almost every room, a four-foot corridor along its perimeter that creates storage space, 10-foot ceilings, and solar panels. (The home is also fitted with HVAC.)

Image: Zillow

According to its listing, the property sold earlier this month, closing at a little over $2.3 million. More images of this unique underground dwelling can be seen on Zillow, here.

ABIBOO Studio pulls from their expertise in space architecture to develop a luxury doomsday bunker

2021-01-07T16:19:00-05:00

2020 taught us to embrace the indoors. However, as the world enters 2021, some may feel more propelled to seek out shelters that can protect them from calamity. At least that's how the New York and Miami-based practice ABIBOO Studio explains their latest project, the DBX Doomsday Bunker.

Led by Spanish architect and designer Alfredo Munoz, the firm's work focuses on many design projects that revolve around architecture, technology, interiors, and research and development. Munoz is also a member of the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) and recognized on an exclusive list of Space Architects. Here he pulls from the firm's expertise in space architecture and luxury living to develop DBX.

"The shelter can accommodate up to two family groups and a maximum of ten people. It occupies 12,000 square feet and is accessed through a lifting military-grade door camouflaged on a green-covered hill." Project visual and description courtesy of ABIBOO Studio

"The entrance i...

Arup and COBE design two new metro stations in Copenhagen

2020-06-19T19:06:00-04:00

As a part of the Nordhavn metro line extension connecting Copenhagen's docklands to its city center, Arup and COBE have teamed up to design two new metro stations, Orientkaj and Nordhavn. A defining feature of this project is that one of the stations, Orentkaj station, is above-ground, and the other, Nordhavn station, is underground.

Orientkaj Station.

The above-ground station holds a brutalist inspiration, drawing from the historical aesthetics of the industrial docklands. The underground station takes its inspiration from the recently opened Cityringen metro line, in which Arup led the architectural design, and uses a distinctive red cladding present and other transfer stations.

Nordhavn Station.

"Nordhavn is a city of sustainable mobility, where it is easier to walk, bike or use public transport, than it is to drive your own car. The two metro stations unlock the potential of this new Copenhagen city district enabling more efficient and sustainable transport between the individual ...

NYC's Lowline underground park proposal goes dormant

2020-02-26T16:37:00-05:00

It's been billed as the underground High Line: a park, not above the street but below ground, in an abandoned trolley terminal on the Lower East Side. But after more than a decade of planning, one of the founders of the proposed Lowline says the project is now on hold because there isn't enough money to build it.

It's been a while since we've heard from the ambitious — and in 2016 even city-approved — Lowline underground park proposal inside an abandoned trolley terminal on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

The Lowline Lab served as a prototype for the greater initiative from October 2015 through March 2017. Image: The Lowline.

But as one of the Lowline co-founders, Dan Barasch, recently told Spectrum News NY1, the project had fallen behind specific fundraising targets set by the city and remains on hold for now. "The Lowline is not dead," Barasch said in the interview. "The Lowline is simply waiting for the support that it needs to make it happen."

Underground construction site collapses in China, taking 8 lives

2019-10-30T14:27:00-04:00

An underground car park that was under construction in southwest China collapsed, killing eight people and injuring two others, official media said Tuesday. State broadcaster CCTV said the 10 people were trapped in the rubble when the collapse occurred Monday afternoon in Guizhou province's Guiyang city.

Three workers were able to escape the scene. The 10 trapped workers were rescued early on Tuesday local time, reports ABC.

The world's 'deepest hotel' just opened to guests in an abandoned Chinese quarry

2018-11-16T15:50:00-05:00

Rising 88 metres (290 feet) from the floor of an abandoned quarry, the 18-storey InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel in the city’s Songjiang district has been in development for 12 years and cost 2 billion yuan (US$287.9 million) to complete. Of its 18 floors, just two are aboveground while its two lowest are completely submerged by a lake that occupies the remainder of the vast quarry pit.

Remember the Chinese 'Deep Pit Hotel' that was poised to open inside an abandoned quarry outside of Shanghai? Officially titled InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, the 336-room luxury property finally launched yesterday.

'World's First Underground Hotel' set to open in an abandoned Chinese quarry

2018-09-28T18:29:00-04:00

InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland (also known as the Deep Pit Hotel), will finally open its doors in October. The eye-popping, luxury hotel is standing out as a must-see destination in itself. Built mostly below ground in a deep pit of an abandoned quarry in southwestern Shanghai, it’s being hailed as a modern architectural wonder. [...] Of its 18 floors, 16 are technically below ground, including two floors underwater.

Image courtesy of Atkins.

"The hotel houses 337 rooms and suites that boast curved balconies where guests can enjoy views of the waterfalls spilling from the surrounding cliffs and the transparent glass waterfall built into the centre of the hotel," writes Lonely Planet on its website. What's not to love?

Image courtesy of Atkins.

Artificial waterfalls inside an enormous rock pit certainly feel more authentic than the 350-foot example gushing down this skyscraper 1,130 miles further west in the city of Guiyang.

Requiem - Lahdelma & Mahlmäki’s Museum for the Defense and Siege of Leningrad

2018-01-16T23:44:00-05:00

Lahdelma & Mahalmäki Architects have unveiled Requiem, their competition proposal for the Museum for the Defense and Siege of Leningrad, St. Petersburg. The project was undertaken in partnership with Ralph Appelbaum Associates who, together, formed the only international team amongst the four final designs. The design sees an elegant spiral, buried in the landscape, reaching up from the exhibitions which are buried in a vast cavern underground. The route corkscrews out the top of the riverside, reaching outwards to give views over the new St. Petersburg.

Images credit to: Brick Visuals

The Museum for the Defense and Siege of Leningrad and its several components form a powerful spatial composition, connecting to the character and history of the city. The Thread of Life, the Memorial of Heroes of Leningrad and the Square of Testimony all sit against the backdrop of a newly created tranquil river side park.

Images credit to: Brick Visuals

The ‘Thread of Life’ refers to the museum and ex...

Take a 360° tour of Steinert Hall, Boston's iconic underground theater

2017-07-26T17:40:00-04:00

Built in 1896 for piano dealers M. Steinert & Sons, Steinert Hall is a magnificent six-story limestone and brick building tucked 40 feet below the street level. Appropriately nicknamed “The Little Gem”, it was designed by Winsell&Weterell and incorporated a Beaux Arts-style facade with terra-cotta ornament and a copper cornice.

Until the 1940s the space functioned as a grand venue for performances—its curved walls bounced compositions performed by many iconic musicians including Polish pianist and former prime minister of Poland, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and pianist/composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Now in ill-repair, the concert auditorium has not been used since its closure in 1942 due to fire code restrictions and the prohibitive cost of upgrading the hall. However, in May of 2015, it was announced that the hall would be renovated in an attempt to open it again for performances.

Paul Murphy, who formerly owned Steinert Hall, noted, “people walk by here every day and they don’t kno...

Getting down with the LED grow lights to be used in NYC's Lowline

2017-03-02T19:51:00-05:00

Although still just a mock-up in the Lowline Lab, the LED grow lights designed by Lighting Science for use in the real Lowline are a promising iteration.

Combining everything that's great about glowing hexagons with three different settings ("soft-white light, one that mimics daylight, and one that includes Lighting Science’s patented VividGroTM LED indoor grow light spectrum technology") the grow lights are about 2 feet in diameter each, and will be coupled with solar installations designed to direct sunlight into the depths of the pioneering subterranean park.

NYC's Lowline is approved by city officials, becoming world's first underground park

2016-07-14T14:25:00-04:00

What do you do with a sad, funky, abandoned trolley terminus? Well, if it's the former Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal under Delancey Street in New York City, you make the world's first underground park by virtue of adding some mirrors, skylights, and vegetation. One acre in size, the freshly city-approved park (which took nearly a decade to go from its initial concept to getting the green light from the city) makes use of solar technology to pour sunlight into the former terminal, which has remained unused since 1948.

"Every designer dreams of doing civic work that contributes to society and to the profession," said James Ramsey, Lowline Co-Founder and Creator. "Over the last 8 years, we just stuck to what we thought was a great idea that could make our city and our community better. We're thrilled to move ahead on designing and building a space that people will enjoy for generations to come."

For more on innovative design news in NYC:

Crossrail unveils images of new Elizabeth line stations

2016-05-12T12:23:00-04:00

The Elizabeth line will link London and the South East from Reading to Heathrow with 10 new stations and upgrades to 30 existing stations.

Currently Europe's largest infrastructure project the £14.8 billion scheme began in Canary Wharf in 2009 and is now 75% complete. Services will begin in 2018.

Although the stations will have recognisable features uniting them; Crossrail have said that each station will have it's own distinctive character that reflects the heritage and local culture of the area.

The stations have been specifically designed to make travel as easy as possible with accessibility, comfort and safety in mind.

Mike Brown MVO, London's Transport Commissioner, said: “The TfL-run Elizabeth line will transform travel across London, reducing journey times, relieving congestion on the Tube network, and radically improving step-free access with brand new accessible stations. This exhibition will enable customers to really start to see what their new stations will look like whe...

Miniature manhole rooms highlight reality of Bucharest's underground dwellers

2016-04-15T13:30:00-04:00

Borderlife is a street art intervention by Biancoshock in which three abandoned manholes in Milan’s Lodi district have been transformed into miniature dwellings. [...] With Borderlife the street artist wants to make us aware about the distressing living conditions of many fellow humans who are forced to live in confined spaces, especially manholes. He got his inspiration from the reportedly hundreds of people that are occupying manholes and sewer systems in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

Images of the BORDERLIFE street art intervention via Biancoshock's website.

Brunel’s Thames Tunnel transformed into an underground theatre

2016-04-14T11:00:00-04:00

Called the Grand Entrance Hall, the underground space – opening today – will be run by The Brunel Museum and is set to host plays, operas, concerts and even weddings. Architects Tate Harmer breathed new life into the 1843 Grade II*-listed shaft – originally designed by civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Marc – adding a cantilevered staircase to make the 75ft-deep hall accessible.

Discover more UK content here:

Subterranean theme park: photographer Richard John Seymour captures the new life inside an ancient Transylvanian salt mine

2016-01-18T15:11:00-05:00

Deep in the Transylvanian countryside lies an ancient salt mine dating back over two millennia. Today Salina Turda has become an unlikely tourist attraction, with thousands of visitors descending its vertical shafts each year to play mini-golf, go bowling and row around its underground lake. [...] British photographer Richard John Seymour recently travelled to Salina Turda in his quest to document human-altered landscapes.

With a little compromise, illegal urban squats like Ljubljana's Metelkova Mesto can do a city good

2015-07-24T19:38:00-04:00

The irony of [Metelkova Mesto's] transformation – from the military arm of a censorious regime to a tolerant artistic community – is what makes the regeneration project of this space so encouraging...Metelkova, in contrast, has built its image firmly on its artistic and cultural credentials. It’s autonomous, but not anarchistic; liberal, but not lawless.

The Outlaw Instagrammers of New York City

2014-08-25T15:32:00-04:00

There has long been a subculture of so-called “urban explorers” who have made a game of accessing off-limits places. [...] Urban explorers take photos mainly to document that they’ve been there, while for Deas the image is the whole point. The outlaw Instagrammers have more in common with graffiti artists, another subculture of underground creatives who make their work in the cracks of the urban landscape.

Previously in Russia: Skywalking - hacking architecture in Russia

IABR–2014–URBAN BY NATURE– Part 3: Exploring the Underground

2014-07-30T20:53:00-04:00

IABR–2014–URBAN BY NATURE–, the sixth edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR), claims that we can only solve the world’s environmental problems if we solve the problems of the city.

Looking through the lens of landscape architecture, IABR–2014– redefines the way we deal with urban challenges by analyzing the relationship between urban society and nature, and between city and landscape.
This edition of the biennale argues that cities are an integral part of huge urban landscapes, complex systems that have become our natural environment. This perspective has many implications for the way we plan and design our urban environment. Perceiving it as an organism opens up possibilities to develop spatial interventions that make use of its metabolism.
With the use of new and innovative design strategies that effectively address the city as the bigger urban landscape that it is, we can make the city more resilient and thus truly contribute to a more sustainable future...

The Abandoned Railway below Philadelphia

2014-05-27T13:41:00-04:00

As modern Philadelphia shapes its future, some of its citizens have turned to the artifacts of its former prowess for inspiration. Much as the High Line in New York is widely believed to have been partially responsible for the reinvigoration of not only a derelict site but also its surrounding neighborhood, a portion of elevated rail track in central Philly known as the Reading Viaduct has been hoisted into public view as a potential catalyst for urban transformation.

Beijing cracks down on the city's growing population of unofficial underground residences

2013-12-10T12:08:00-05:00

Because of Beijing’s sky-high apartment rental costs, as many as two million people—about a tenth of the city’s population—are said to be living below street level in underground storage basements and air-raid shelters partitioned into cramped, windowless rooms. Many of those who have to crowd into these homes are migrant workers like Wang, from the nearby province of Hebei.

70's Vegas underground home on the market for $1.7M

2013-09-12T20:43:00-04:00

The above ground structure is just like any other– with the only hints being multiple air conditioning units, and emergency exits around the property. The underground interior is one that’s stuck in the hippy chic 1970′s days. Pink draperies, carpet and classic columns outfit the dated interior. Putting greens, a rock facade barbecue and natural style light settings make for an interesting setting that’s completely user controlled.

How Engineers Are Building a New Railroad Under New York City

2013-05-28T15:13:00-04:00

The biggest public transit infrastructure effort in the US is almost completely invisible — unless you’re 160 feet underground. The East Side Access project will connect the Long Island Railroad to New York’s Grand Central Terminal via a massive tunnel under the East River. Actually, that tunnel was the easy part; it was started in 1969. The hard part? “We are building a brand-new railroad here,” says Michael Horodniceanu, president of Metropolitan Transit Authority Capital Construction.

Beautiful photographs by Dean Kaufman. To view more of his photos from this story, go to his website.

Inside three vast halls

2013-02-06T11:27:00-05:00

As dark matter particles steam through the detector, scientists hope that a few will collide with the argon atoms. This will generate two flashes of light - one in the liquid argon and another in the gas - which will be detected by the receptors.

Rebecca Morelle visits the Gran Sasso National Laboratory a man-made cavern, deep beneath a mountain, designed by scientists hoping to shed light on one of the most mysterious substances in our Universe - dark matter. Physicists are hoping to detect WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).

Paris is like a wedge of Gruyère cheese

2012-11-01T11:48:00-04:00

Our aim is to examine the city's connection to its underground in a way no one has before: we will attempt to walk from the southern edge to the northern, using only catacombs, telecom tunnels, sewers and other hidden infrastructure. It is a 14-mile trek, every step illegal.

Will Hunt spent a few days and nights underneath Paris, as part of an expedition led by Steve Duncan, a photographer and urban historian from New York. The group discovered a parallel universe populated by: "cataphiles" - young, bohemian Parisians who use the tunnels as party venues, ossuaries and "An 800-year crawl".

New York City’s Hidden Subway Station

2012-05-14T17:59:00-04:00

Deep in the belly of New York’s subway system, a beautiful untouched station resides that has been forgotten for years with only a limited few knowing of its existence. Stunning decoration with tall tiled arches, brass fixtures and skylights run across the entire curve of the station, almost a miniature imitation of Grand Central Station…

The New French Hacker-Artist Underground

2012-02-02T18:00:00-05:00

Through meticulous infiltration, UX members have carried out shocking acts of cultural preservation and repair, with an ethos of “restoring those invisible parts of our patrimony that the government has abandoned or doesn’t have the means to maintain.” The group claims to have conducted 15 such covert restorations, often in centuries-old spaces, all over Paris.

buried treasure

2011-05-27T19:39:54-04:00

This lovely underground home is slated to be the first zero-carbon home in the North West of England. Designed by Make Architects, this 4-bedroom oasis leaves the views of nature in tact above the ground while creating spaces filled with light and space below the ground plane.