Archinect - News

Brooks + Scarpa reveals Westside LA transitional housing project inspired by Irving Gill

2022-10-24T14:38:00-04:00

Brooks + Scarpa has released images of their recently-completed Rose Apartments complex, a community housing initiative for formerly homeless teenage youths transitioning into adulthood in Venice, Los Angeles.

The 20,900-square-foot, four-story design includes some 35 units of highly affordable residences for young adults who are at risk for homelessness after being separated from the state-administered system at the age of 18.

Image courtesy Brooks + Scarpa

Located nearby Venice Beach's central retail strip, the scheme takes its cues from Irving Gill’s neighboring Horatio West Court apartments and other examples of courtyard housing that predominated the city in the years prior to the Second World War.

Image courtesy Brooks + Scarpa

Per the architects: “The courtyard is only one aspect of a successful design. By including affordable housing for transitional aged youths, it allowed the non-developer to take advantage of California State Assembly Bill AB7...

MAD Architects shares photography of verdant Garden House project in Los Angeles

2020-08-26T14:01:00-04:00

Beijing and Los Angeles-based MAD Architects has released photography of the firm's Gardenhouse house project, an 18-unit luxury residential development located in Los Angeles that offers "a rebuttal to the stereotypical cubic-box living environments of high-density cities across the world," according to the architects.

Photo courtesy of Darren Bradley.

The mixed-use development contains retail spaces along the ground floor with a stack of residential units situated above. The first two stories above the retail level are articulated in more conventional rectilinear arrangements while the top levels contain house-shaped geometries.

Photos courtesy of Nic Lehoux.

Inspired by the "hillside village" typology, the project brings a cluster of metal panel-wrapped homes that overlook a central courtyard situated at the base of the building. The upper level homes offer multiple levels and contain unconventional roof and ceiling designs that reflect their pitched roof configurations.

Photo c...

Seoul housing development builds traditional hanok designs for a slower lifestyle

2018-09-04T13:36:00-04:00

Eunpyeong Hanok Village was selling locals hanok, the traditional Korean tile-roofed residences that have, after hundreds of years, increasingly been destroyed and replaced by towering steel structures; indeed, not since the 1930s have hanok been constructed in significant numbers. The decline of vernacular architecture in the face of global urbanization is, of course, hardly new, though traditional Korean hanok are a particularly stark contrast to modern city living.

A new housing development, Eunpyeong, in northern Seoul is solely dedicated to constructing traditional Korean hanok houses. The design adheres to certain guidelines on proportion and design, with a low center of gravity, a courtyard, and an orientation towards nature.

The hanok's popularity comes from a need to connect to Korean identity and a desire to slow down from a past-paced economy. The minimalist design confronts the occupant with the amount of stuff they own and orients them to reconsider a new, slower way of life.

Construction begins on 2018 Serpentine Pavilion

2018-04-23T19:19:00-04:00

Construction is now underway for the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in June in time for summer outdoor festivities at the Serpentine Galleries in London. Mexican architect Frida Escobedo — who was commissioned to design the 2018 pavilion in February — is working with AECOM, contractor Stage One Creative Services, and the Serpentine Galleries to bring the anticipated installation to life.

Escobedo's design fuses elements of Mexican domestic architecture and British materials and history, while playfully integrating light, water, and geometry.

Serpentine Pavilion 2018 Designed by Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura, Design Rendering, Interior View © Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura, Renderings by Atmósfera.

The pavilion comprises two rectangular volumes positioned at an angle to form an enclosed courtyard — a common feature of Mexican domestic architecture. The courtyard's axis will be directed to the north, in reference to the Prime Meridian that was est...

Blending Japanese traditional and modern architecture, this Kyoto guest house is a quiet stunner

2018-03-02T19:14:00-05:00

Tucked away in the dense network of narrow streets in Kyoto's central Gojo Karasuma district, an old house has come back to life and—after a thorough, yet thoughtful, makeover—enjoys now a refreshed existence as a boutique guest house for tourists visiting the area.

In charge of the redesign was B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio, a young Japanese practice founded in 2014 by Yoko Fujii and Shuhei Aoyama in Beijing. An emphasis on structure, materiality, and light can be traced throughout B.L.U.E.'s work, primarily in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and increasingly in other Chinese cities.

Project description from the architects: "Located at Gojo Karasuma, Kyoto, the original house has more than 100 years history. It is a traditional timber-structure house in typical form of Kyoto house, and the main skeleton remains in good condition except for some random later rebuilt. The owner intended to transform it into a unique boutique homestay."

"T...

MVRDV reveal integrated offices in new city center of Łódź, Poland

2018-02-05T16:14:00-05:00

MVRDV’s new project, Fabryczna Offices, will house both office and retail space in the center of Łódź, Poland's third largest city. The firm's design draws inspiration from the city’s industrial textile heritage reimagined for contemporary use. The 13-floor building uses the distinct glazed brick and glass facade materials to signal both the past and the city’s future ambition of recent surrounding development.

The private green roof and public courtyard, by Dutch firm Lola Landscape Architects, are designed as a family of semi-public spaces with greenery and a large variety of vegetation and spaces for terraces and bikes. The building will also be located across the street from the newly developed railway station “Fabryczna”, and other local landmarks.

“This building will help to bring back more density and urbanity right in the heart of Łódź,”...

V&A Museum addition includes $70M all-porcelain public courtyard

2017-06-30T17:33:00-04:00

The bold addition features the world's first all-porcelain public courtyard, paved with 11,000 handmade porcelain tiles in 15 different patterns. The tiles were manufactured by Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands' oldest registered company, established in 1572.

After six years of construction, the Exhibition Road Quarter, AL_A-designed courtyard space opened yesterday in London's Victoria and Albert Museum, adding 11,840 square feet of column-free flexible gallery space to the museum to help accommodate the V&A's headline exhibitions. Intended as a meeting point, public square and museum entrance, AL_A's extension is V&A’s largest architectural intervention in over 100 years.