a couple of my favorite details, at the same building:






st mary of the angels chapel in rotterdam, by mecanoo

details i love -

the ground level glass: from the outside, helps the chapel feel light; from the inside, gives a sense of the continuity of the ground plane beyond the inside floor surface.

the siding: so carefully and artfully installed.

also, less clear from these pix: the roof is formed such that it's hard to get a sense of its thickness. it appears wafer-thin - floating - from most angles.

the wall/door: large opening that flips around so that siding is shown inside and the blue surface with the quote welcomes visitors in.

arrrrgh.

i've tried a couple of different ways and can't make it work right now. try this link: st mary of the angels, rotterdam

What reminds me of this ones from the cool Oscar

SW's pics









previously:
mnml_dtls - which included an interesting but short dialogue on the nature of minimalist details

interior wood jambs

pivoting door details

spectacular details

stairs

Holz, I knew you'd come through.

genau

"all" of them?

i've got about 10,000 on flickr....

this is great thread. Thanks Sarah

here's a few of mine

evan,

i've been trolling your flickr accout for years now. it's delicious. are you still travelling as much?

holz, thanks. i try to keep moving, but sometimes I have to work ;).

I have a little local example I've been meaning to photograph: a quietly rusting steel sidewalk access plate to which has been applied a "diamond plate" texture of raised marks -- with a torch, one at a time. Someone's labor of love. . .?

does it look good, sdr, or does it just look crazy? it sounds more crazy than good.

Well, it's located in a brick sidewalk, middle section of Market Street, SF (near Octavia Boulevard) and isn't associated with anything significant. Yeah, it's a little funky, but (other than a little drift from a perfect layout) is a poignantly (?) faithful rendition of the typical pattern. So, better than crazy, I think -- but more 'funky craft' than 'architectural detail' ? I'll grab it this morning on my walk. . .

Still sounds like an architectural detail to me. I mean, we were part of the arts and crafts movement.

Here 'tis:

that's wild, sdr. next time i spec diamond plate, i'm going to tuck in a line about individually hand welding each mark, and see where the bids come in. ;)

Isn't it bizarre ? And the whole grid being tilted off-axis. . .

I haven't tried to figure out what P.B. stands for. Not a San Francisco utility that I'm aware of. This is not more than 10 years old, I believe.

Yes, Sarah, art and craft are surely the chief components of the (better) built environment, aren't they (still) ? Thanks for that.

infrastructure meets architecture. I love it, SDR!

Too often, the installation and detailing of access plates is overlooked, and the rough-opening is uncarefully cut in the paving pattern, then typically sealed with 2" of mis-matched red sealant around the perimeter.



So how should we draw/design this kind of detail to ensure its succcess?

Perhaps if the vaults are aligned with the building and the paving pattern is also aligned with the building, we have a fighting chance of getting this detail right.

Or perhaps the work point for the brick is at the corner of one of the access panels?

Don't the Roman man-hole covers say PB? Maybe it was some other letters.

My classical history is lacking -- what would PB mean to the Romans ?

Out here we have plastic-framed and -covered electrical and water sidewalk boxes -- and small antique cast iron plumbing clean-outs, whose stamped steel covers have lately gone missing. . .

pb = plumbum -- lead ? Water service -- or sewer ?

i'm wondering if pb = the initials of the 'tagger'?

Heh-heh -- that's some time-consuming tagging ! Think the cops would notice someone welding on the sidewalk at 3 AM ? Nah. . .

Huh -- Parsons Brinckerhoff

http://utilities.kellysearch.com/profile/pb+power+inc./us/ca/san+francisco/94107/900680102

the (modern) manhole covers in Roma all say 'SPQR'

Can I post hypothetical (done by myself) details?

I certainly hope so ! Sarah ? Is there another place for these ?

there is something about this image that cries out for the steps to be located 12 inches to the left, aligning the handrails with the verts on the wall.

but other than that, i really dig the handrail

Right, holz. . .or, 12" to the right, so the syncopation is centered ? One or the other, surely !

vitra

hadid's vitra with all its gaps...

love this one also. makes me realize much of gaudi's work relied on the hands of the builders...

holz funny you want to adjust the hand rails versus the wall panelling but yeah I totally agree

Fulton St, SF, opposite Alamo Sq Park

i imagine the walls are pretty set, and the stairs, being a landscape element, have a little more fudge room

I know I'm horrible at rendering!

Can we see some non-horrible digital door locks?

CalTrans detail to a service door

would anyone know how a stair like this works structurally? a friend of mine asked me via this miracle stair in santa fe church thinking i am an architect and would know. i thought it was a simple spiral in which the railing is acting like web and stiffening the curve. i was wrong. nevermind i found out what it is. but still...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_Chapel#History_of_the_staircase_construction

this is beautiful.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7wT6xAAnQk/Sv1l9W77mnI/AAAAAAAAAC0/2O3op4Hkx0c/s1600/AGO_spiral_staircase.jpg

It's a giant spring that is stiff enough to take the load from people. It reads that they no longer allow people to descend it.

Interesting. Today a steel helix would be erected and the woodwork constructed to enclose it ?

Note that it was built without a handrail, which was added later !

On the modern spiral linked by Orhan, the mismatched veneer color could have been the result of accidentally turning several panels upside down . . .