Archinect - News

White Room Inspires Interaction

2021-07-14T13:52:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AF New York

What does an all-white room signify to you? For me, it’s a fraught mix of sanitarium/hospital, a sort of blank slate for digital reality a la The Matrix, and a vaguely heavenly connotation—like something from a film in which Morgan Freeman plays God. Now, what if we adorn said room with all-white upscale bathroom fixtures? What if we bedeck it from tip to toe with Victoria & Albert washbasins, Duravit vanities, Geberit U.S.A. flush plates, and Infinity Drains? How would that make you feel?

Juliana Fajardo, Chief of Staff at AF New York, is betting that this very unorthodox and equally provocative installation will provoke a powerful reaction, one way or another: “The gallery style, the re-contextualization of these objects, allows you to appreciate them on another level, to experience the different textures, the artfulness and the beauty of the forms.”

Kaldewei Washbasins

Looking at White Room’s many mounted urinals, one can’t help but think...

Researchers create ultra-white paint that could cool buildings

2021-04-16T17:54:00-04:00

Scientists in the US have developed a paint significantly "whiter than the whitest paint currently available". Tests carried out by researchers at Purdue University on their "ultra-white" paint showed it reflected more than 98% of sunlight. That suggests, the scientists say, that it could help save energy and fight climate change.

The paint's whiteness opens up a range of cooling features that, applied at an industrial scale, could limit the built environment's contributing effect to global warming and its dependency on traditional air conditioning.

"If you were to use this paint to cover a roof area of about 1,000 square feet, we estimate that you could get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts. That’s more powerful than the central air conditioners used by most houses," predicts Xiulin Ruan, the Purdue professor of mechanical engineering, who led the research.

An infrared camera shows how a sample of the whitest white paint (the dark purple square in the middle) actually cools the board below ambient temperature. Credit: Purdue University/Joseph Peoples.

"Using high-accuracy temperature reading equipment called thermocouples, the researchers demonstrated outdoors that the paint can keep surfaces 19 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than their ambient surroundings at night," claims the study. "It can also cool surfaces 8 d...

Circular concrete office marks entrance to "health tech" research park in Chengdu

2020-06-25T12:15:00-04:00

As a certified National Economic and Technological Development Zone in China, the Chengdu Science and Technology Industry Incubation Park had a planning area of 330,000 square meters. The park is positioned as a platform to help foster the growth of "health-tech" companies. One of its strategies is the development and construction of a landmark building at the park entrance with goal of using architecture to inspire the continued growth and future of the industry.

Shanghai and Taipei-based architects CROX were commissioned back in 2014 to take on the landscape design and masterplanning for the park in addition to the design of the entry landmark building. The aim of the project is to transform the existing barren concrete site into a more sustainable and ecologically friendly environment.

The project's focal point rests on the circular general purpose building at the north entrance of the site. At ground level, visitors will find a series of conference rooms, a large lobby, some res...

House in Tavira by Vitor Vilhena

2012-12-12T14:34:00-05:00

Context
South of Portugal, Algarve, Tavira. Here the ocean peeks, while the 400 olive trees surround the house. An old building has to give place to a new one, keeping the two- volume-footprint in the soft topography.

Solution
Based on the area occupied by the pre-existence, maintaining the orientation of the housing compartments south, the architectural concept seeks to create two parcels with separate identities, including one volume with irregular geometry and other volume of regular geometry that communicate through a glass hallway. The surrounding outdoors relate to the terrain, landscape and vegetation.

Vitor Vilhena Architects
Location – Tavira, Algarve, Portugal 400 m2
Building costs: 1.3 M
Started: 2011
Finished: 2012