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Kengo Kuma completes Japanese farmhouse resort surrounding rice terraces

2022-09-20T11:10:00-04:00

Work has been completed on the Kengo Kuma and Associates-designed KAI Yufuin, a hot spring hotel on the Japanese island of Kyushu. The resort sees a landscape of rice terraces enclosed by several buildings containing public functions, a bathhouse, guest rooms, and villa suites.

Exterior. Photo credit: Hoshino Resorts

The scheme’s three anchor buildings, namely the public building, bathhouse building, and guest room building, are defined by long gabled roofs with low eaves heights. The buildings’ exteriors are clad in charcoal grey to blend with the deep green hue of the surrounding forest, while the entrance is distinguished by a series of bamboo exterior walls.

Entrance. Photo credit: Hoshino Resorts

Rice Terrace. Photo credit: Hoshino Resorts

The interior architecture surrounding the rice terraces is based on the concept of a “fine farmhouse” presenting a bespoke interior that nonetheless follows the spatial structure of vernacular Japanese farm...

Get Lectured: Rice University, Fall' 20

2020-10-19T19:31:00-04:00

For the Fall term, universities are using their lecture series as opportunities to discuss the ongoing issues of racial inequality, climate, change, and politics within the field of architecture. Join Rice University for its Fall 2020 virtual lectures focusing on race, social justice, and allyship.

Archinect's ongoing Get Lectured series features each school's lecture series and their graphic design prowess with eye-catching lecture posters.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Rice start off the months of August and September with lectures from Mikki Hebl, Anzilla Glimore, Ilze and Heinrich Wolff, Jesús Vassallo, Ana María León, Stephen Fox, Kadambari Baxi, and Nonya Grenader. Leading into the week of October 21st the school welcomes a lecture from Michael Stone-Richards Professor and Director of Critical Theory at the College for Creative Studies as he discusses "Negation and Disavowal in Spatial Pol...

Rice University researchers prototype diamond-strength building materials from 3-D printed polymer structures

2019-11-26T16:20:00-05:00

How can we make stronger building materials? An experiment conducted by Rice University's Brown School of Engineering explores this limit by manipulating materials like plastic, metal, and concrete to match the strength of diamonds.

3D printed blocks made at Rice University. Image © Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Through a series of tests, the team at Rice, led by graduate student Seyed Mohammad Sajadi, discovered that 3D-printed polymers based on tubulane structures could be mimicked and scaled to produce an incredibly durable structure that can both withstand intense compression forces and deflect projectiles. This breakthrough opens new doors for creating impact-resistant materials that perhaps were not possible to create previously.

"Sajadi and his colleagues built computer simulations of various tubulane blocks, printed the designs as macroscale polymers, and subjected them to crushing forces and speeding bullets. The best proved 10 times better at stopping a bullet than a solid ...

Rice University's Jesús Vassallo's mass timber construction project wins Shepley Bulfinch Award

2019-07-29T13:45:00-04:00

The award grants funding to a faculty member — or team of faculty members — to conduct research that investigates materials or sustainability. Vassallo was selected for the award for his project “Tall Timber.”

Spanish architect, writer, and assistant professor at Rice University Jesús Vassallo was selected as the recipient of the Shepley Bulfinch Award. Founded in 1952, Shepley Bulfinch is an international architecture firm that focuses on sustainable design practices. Vassallo has committed much of his work towards design production and housing revolving around realism in architecture.

A licensed architect in Spain, Vassallo received his masters of architecture at Harvard GSD and his bachelors in architecture from Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid. His most recent project, titled "Tall Timber," focuses on mass timber construction systems for housing developments. Vassallo's research emphasizes the need for carbon reduction and awareness by focusing on mass timber construction as an alternative to steel or concrete systems.

“Anticipating the disruptive potential of...

Rice picks DS+R for opera theater

2014-03-21T16:44:00-04:00

Rice University has picked the New York architectural firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro to design an opera theater scheduled to open in 2018. The 600-seat theater will stand in what now is a parking lot between Alice Pratt Brown Hall, the home of Rice's Shepherd School of Music, and Rice Stadium. Besides serving the school's Opera Department, the theater will be used for chamber music concerts and other events, Rice said. Charles Renfro, a 1989 Rice graduate, will be the lead architect.

Rem Koolhaas dismisses preservation in Houston, offers an alternative approach

2012-10-12T14:28:00-04:00

Building upon a short Wednesday evening presentation he gave at Rice, Koolhaas opened with discussion of historical preservation, a topic that elicited mixed emotions for the architect while, at the same time, offered a window into his approach to the built environment. "Preservation is a highly artificial term," he explained. "History happens and leaves its traces . . . I have to say, I prefer history without preservation."