Archinect - News

Oppenheim Architecture unveils hotel carved into a mountainside

2021-09-29T10:08:00-04:00

Oppenheim Architecture has released details of their Desert Rock hotel complex, situated in the mountains along Saudi Arabia’s west coast. When completed in 2023, the complex will include 48 villas and 12 hotel suites, some of which are carved directly into the mountainside. The Desert Rock hotel forms part of a wider redevelopment known as the Red Sea Project, which is set to comprise 50 resorts across 22 islands and six inland sites upon its completion in 2030.

Image by Luxigon

Oppenheim’s scheme seeks to blend with its surroundings through the use of natural materials, some of which are recycled from the site. During the daytime, the hotel's material palettes and shadow effects blend with the mountainside to conceal the scheme, while at night, the glow of the architectural lighting activates the hillside. The approach to the hotel, along a hidden valley within the mountains, has been further considered to gently reveal the scheme as guests draw nearer, and minimize obstruction of ...

The project of 'Architecture collectibles': Solo Houses

2017-08-28T18:21:00-04:00

The overall project is a bit like Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture programme of architect-designed holiday homes, except that Solo’s are all in the same 100-hectare location. It also resembles the Serpentine Galleries’ annual architecture pavilion, with the difference that these houses are permanent and habitable.

Just over the border from Catalonia, amid the mountainous landscape of eastern Spain, a new one-of-a-kind development is underway. Including a total of 15 houses and a hotel, each designed by a different architect, Solo Houses was initiated by a Paris-based couple, Christian Bourdais and Eva Albarran. The 'collection' strives to capture the current state of architecture and is united by a remarkable material and light sensibility.

The ‘right-angled mushroom’ Solo House designed by Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen. Photograph: Pezo Von Ellrichshausen; Image via theguardian.com

So far, two houses are completed—a concrete and square tower by Chile-based Pezo von Ellrichshausen and a circular house designed by the Brussels practice Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen.

Solo Houses’ choices are those of enthusiasts who know their field and know what they like. Bourdais says he wasn’t looking “for the fashionable architects that everyone knows”, but people of his own fortysom...

Hawaii protesters block construction of giant telescope on sacred mountain Mauna Kea

2015-06-26T13:02:00-04:00

Builders pulled back from Mauna Kea as hundreds of protesters set up roadblocks to oppose construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on top of Hawaii’s sacred mountain. State and local police arrested a dozen demonstrators.

"Protesters say they are taking a stand to defend Mauna Kea, sacred to native Hawaiians, from the international conglomerate attempting to build the mega-telescope, also known as the TMT. They say the 18-story building represents an unacceptable desecration of the mountain."

The Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, was designed to be one of the largest telescopes in existence — at a price tag of $1.5 billion USD.

Previously on Archinect: The $1.5B 30m telescope (TMT) will be the biggest ever

Harvard GSD to host talk on "Habitation in Extreme Environments: Alpine Shelter" exhibition this Friday

2015-02-11T18:58:00-05:00

Curated by Spela Videcnik, Rok Oman, and John T. Dunlop (Design Critic in Housing and Urban Development), the "Habitation in Extreme Environments: Alpine Shelter" exhibition currently at the Harvard GSD presents a prototypical alpine shelter that students designed in an option studio this past fall. A public lecture and discussion by Spela Videcnik will formally introduce the topic this Friday, February 13 at Gund Hall. The exhibition and lecture are free and open to the public.

Guided by instructors Spela Videcnik and Rok Oman of Ljubljana-based OFIS arhitekti, the studio focused on investigating architectural solutions and responses to extreme climatic conditions, specifically referring to the ongoing heavy wintry conditions that ravage the North region of the U.S. The students researched traditional European alpine settlements in an effort to find new architectural solutions fit for a North American context.

The prototype shelter that will be presented at this Friday's lecture prov...

Zhang Lin Builds His Dream Mountain Home... On Top Of A Beijing Apartment Building

2013-08-14T14:23:00-04:00

For the past six years, professor Zhang Lin has been moving rocks and rubble to construct his dream mountain home in the Renji Mountain area of Beijing, China. The catch? It's actually on the roof of a 26-story apartment building. And according to the South China Morning Post, the structure is completely illegal, as he never received the necessary planning permission for this extreme dwelling.

Why Buy A House When You Can Buy A Mountain?

2013-06-18T13:03:00-04:00

It's not your everyday real estate deal. A team of young entrepreneurs persuaded about 50 deep-pocketed investors to help them purchase a mountain. The deal just closed in April, and development on Utah's nearly 10,000-acre Powder Mountain is now underway. [...] "We were inspired by the core concepts of the Sundance Film Festival and the Aspen Institute. You can build place around a shared ethos."

The Berg

2009-11-11T10:21:13-05:00

While man-made clouds are proposed for London, Berlin is looking at a proposal for a man-made mountain.

A 900m-tall snow-capped artificial mountain has been proposed by architect Jacob Tigges as an iconic landmark for the German city of Berlin - AJ | The Berg