Archinect - News

MAD's bubble installation revitalizes a historic house in the Japanese countryside

2024-07-23T20:01:00-04:00

MAD Architects has unveiled a captivating installation that resembles a bubble being gently blown from a traditional wooden structure.

Called the “Ephemeral Bubble,” the project was created for the 2024 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, an outdoor art exhibition held every three years in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture. The biomorphic design seeks to open a dialogue with the Japanese countryside, the architects say.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

The installation connects to a century-old house in Murono Village known as the China House Huayuan, which has been a hub for Chinese-Japanese cultural exchange. The bubble adds a temporary, flexible space that mimics the lightness and translucence of air.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

The interior of the bubble is expansive and undefined. The reflection of the surrounding greenery and colors within creates an atmosphere of soft light, which is suitable for performances, ceremonies, gatherings, and other events.

Image: Zhu Yumeng

As noted by the architects: “The Ephemeral Bu...

Architect-built concrete bubble house in Australia is for sale

2020-08-26T16:10:00-04:00

Many architects dream of one day building their thesis projects in real life to test out the heady design ideas that coalesce at the tail end of an architectural education.

After graduating from Queensland Institute of Technology's Department of Architecture and Industrial Design in the late 1970s, Australian architect Graham Birchall of Birchall and Partners architects spent a decade doing just that by working to implement concepts from his thesis to create a distinctive, one-of-a-kind Bubble House.

Birchall's senior thesis sought to explore the material properties of Ferrocement, a technique that uses thin shell concrete and wire mesh to create complex spaces and enclosures. Following graduation, Birchall worked to build his Bubble House using his own money, time, and labor ultimately rendering a complex home that to this day evokes a futuristic way of life that draws on these elemental and imaginative material properties. The home, built between 1983 and 1993, was constructed w...

Katerra stumbles as it expands overseas

2019-12-26T16:00:00-05:00

Katerra has failed to complete roughly a dozen projects and could only name one that was delivered on time. All the while, logistical and technology-based issues have chipped away at the company’s image as a revolutionary tech startup. Some clients have ended their relationship with the firm. Other clients, however, are tied to Katerra’s executives, and have drummed up business for the company—a similar arrangement used by WeWork executives, which became a concern for some investors

The Real Deal takes an investigative look at some of the recent business dealings and project announcements from Katerra. The vertically integrated construction and modular building components start-up is facing renewed media and financial scrutiny following the recently announced closure of its first fabrication plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Katerra recently opened a new 270,000-square-foot CLT factory in Spokane, Washington.

The company also recently expanded its project offerings in Saudi Arabia and India, the former of which is the biggest backer of Japanese technology start-up investor Softbank’s Vision Fund, a financial vehicle that backed WeWork, Compass, and Uber, three highly valued ventures that all stumbled in 2019.

“In which the solid buildings would be replaced by the accumulation of foam”

2019-08-19T14:30:00-04:00

Prada Poole conceives the city of the future through what he calls “the three stages of a nonexistent architecture.” In this conception, the traditional city would, in successive transformations, morph into an immaterial city, without inertia, in which the solid buildings would be replaced by the accumulation of foam that would “appear and disappear, converge and disperse according to the different needs.”

Antonio Cobo examines the revolutionary work of Hippie Modernist architect and theorist Jose Miguel Prada Poole for Mas Context.

The era of aspirational pricing is over

2016-07-11T01:39:00-04:00

Brokers say the very top of the market — consisting of eight- and nine-figure homes — is faring the worst as slowing economies overseas and volatile stock markets have spooked buyers. The supply of homes for the rich exploded as builders aimed at the high end after the financial crisis.

Robert Frank highlights a worrisome pileup in the overinflated; luxury housing, megamansions and penthouse market.

Giant bubbles could be 'built over Beijing parks to save residents from smog danger'

2014-04-25T12:47:00-04:00

Beijing has the worst smog levels among the world's capital cities - so bad that playing sports outdoor is often banned - but it could get a stunning new set of lungs in the form of a covered botanical garden, retail and office complex under a giant transparent roof. Called Bubbles, the architectural concept might seem an unlikely candidate for a high-rise city of 21 million people. But its designers believe it offers something that every urban environment needs.

Another Chinese bubble to burst?

Hirshhorn Bubble Project: The Problem With Event Art

2012-11-21T07:10:00-05:00

To fund the Bubble, the museum originally turned to Bloomberg, planning to call it the Bloomberg Balloon in honor of a $1 million (or greater) gift. But, perhaps tellingly, the Hirshhorn has not consistently referred to the Bloomberg Balloon as such, suggesting there may still be room—or the need—for a larger donor. Diminishing federal support certainly won’t fund the Bubble, and to date, the museum's board has not stepped up to bridge the funding gap.

Design a Fix for the Housing Market

2012-02-10T11:27:00-05:00

Too often during the bubble, banks and builders shunned thoughtful architecture and urban design in favor of cookie-cutter houses that could be easily repackaged as derivatives to be flipped, while architects snubbed housing to pursue more prestigious projects. But better design is precisely what suburban America needs, particularly when it comes to rethinking the basic residential categories that define it, but can no longer accommodate the realities of domestic life.

In Gaza, real estate is at a premium

2011-07-08T18:10:36-04:00

If you believe the adage about real estate -- that bit about the three most important things being location, location, location -- then one would think there are few places worse to own a home than the Gaza strip. [...] And yet, home prices are up sharply.

A Lurking Liability?

2011-07-07T13:24:50-04:00

The danger, experts say, is that China’s municipal governments could already be sitting on huge mountains of hidden debt — a lurking liability that threatens to stunt the nation’s economic growth for years or even decades to come. Just last week China’s national auditor, who reports to the cabinet, warned of the perils of local government borrowing.

The NYT publishes the first in what will be a series of articles examining China’s system of government-managed capitalism, and the potential weaknesses that could threaten the nation’s remarkable economic growth. The first article entitled "Building Boom in China Stirs Fears of Debt Overload" explores how the current construction boom (for housing, infrastructure etc) in China's cities may signal economic trouble ahead. Primarily because the investments are usually made using debts which are frequently hidden, on the balance sheets of special investment corporations.

Koolhaas to design 2006 Serpentine Pavillion

2005-12-08T09:23:00-05:00

That's right, breaking news at bdonline.
frm the news > "Previous plans for a grass covered mountain-like pavilion by fellow Dutch architects MVRDV, originally planned for this year, have now been postponed indefinitely because of the œtechnical and financial issues associated with the project, the gallery announced this week. Koolhaas also plans to work on a programme of films, interviews and debates to complement his new pavilion."