Dezeen Book of Ideas. Spaceport America by Foster + Partners. Foster + Partners have completed the world’s first space terminal for tourists in New Mexico. Flying displays by Virgin Galactic space vehicles WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo marked the opening of Spaceport America. The low-rise building is dug into the landscape beside the El Camino Real road and is entered through a cleft between the two wings. Full-height glazing wraps around the end of the building, facing onto the runway beyond. The spaceport hangar is located in the centre of the building, with administrative areas to the west and flight training and preparation areas to the east. The project was designed in collaboration with New Mexico architects SMPC and project manager URS Corporation. Operators Virgin Galactic are currently running a test flight programme. Dezeen originally published visuals of the spaceport back in 2007 - see our earlier story here and see more stories about Virgin Galactic here.
Photography is by Nigel Young, apart from where otherwise stated. Apple Campus 2 by Foster + Partners. Here are some new images of the Apple campus by architects Foster + Partners, to be built in Cupertino, California. The hoop-shaped office building will be located a few blocks away from Apple's existing headquarters and will accommodate up to 13,000 employees. The campus will provide office, research and development facilities, as well as a company fitness centre, a cafe and a 1000-seat auditorium. A circular park for staff is proposed for the centre of the building. Two further buildings will provide additional research facilities, whilst an onsite power plant will provide the majority of electricity for the campus. Dezeen announced that Norman Foster was working on designs for the Apple campus back in December - see our earlier Dezeen Wire. The following project details are from the architects: Apple Campus 2 Project Overview Apple proposes to create Apple Campus 2 - an integrated 21st century campus surrounded by green space.
Click above for larger image Project Objectives Owner: Apple, Inc. Resolution: 4 Architecture | RES4 Prefab | The Modern Modular | The Dwell Home. Traveler’s Guide. Structural insulated panel. Structural insulated panels (or structural insulating panels), SIPs, are a composite building material. They consist of an insulating layer of rigid core sandwiched between two layers of structural board. The board can be sheet metal, plywood, cement, magnesium oxide board (MgO) or oriented strand board (OSB) and the core either expanded polystyrene foam (EPS), extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), polyisocyanurate foam, polyurethane foam or composite honeycomb (HSC).
SIPs share the same structural properties as an I-beam or I-column. The rigid insulation core of the SIP acts as a web, while the sheathing fulfills the function of the flanges. SIPs combine several components of conventional building, such as studs and joists, insulation, vapor barrier and air barrier. They can be used for many different applications, such as exterior wall, roof, floor and foundation systems.
History[edit] Materials[edit] The third component in SIPs is the spline or connector piece between SIP panels. ::: LOT-EK ::: The New Stuttgart City Library - Germany. Korean architect Eun Young Yi’s proposal was selected in 1999 from 235 competition entries as the plan for the new central library of the City of Stuttgart. The building of the 80-million Euro (about $108 mil. US) Stadtbibliothek am Mailänder Platz began three years ago and the opening ceremonies took place last month.
Yi has created a monolithic cube with two floors underground and nine above. Essentially all of the building, both inside and out is white. As a cool nod to the fact that the building is a storehouse of words, the word “library” is installed in four languages on the outside walls. Yi’s company, Yi Architects is based in Cologne and Seoul. Architecture and hygiene - 12 container house. Containerbay. There is growing interest in the use of shipping containers as the basis for habitable structures. These "icons of globalization" are relatively inexpensive, structurally sound and in abundant supply. Although, in raw form, containers are dark windowless boxes (which might place them at odds with some of the tenets of modernist design...) they can be highly customizable modular elements of a larger structure. The projects below are sorted alphabetically (by company or designer's name).
In addition to the container-based projects listed below we offer links to useful web sites and relevant books. Selected projects utilizing shipping containers. Info credits: Zack Smith, Kevin Tze King Ho. Back to top of page Useful linksIf you have any relevant links let us know Container Sources Shipping containers are widely available - here are just a few of the many sources: Technical Resources Books. Ateliers Ciudad de las Artes by Lucio Morini and GGMPU Architects. Argentinian studios Lucio Morini and GGMPU Architects have completed a campus housing artists' studios in Cordoba, Argentina. Called Ateliers Ciudad de las Artes, the project encompasses ten studios organised around an interior plaza. Each unit includes a double-height studio and living quarters, leading to an open terrace on the roof. Sliding glass panels allow each studio to be connected to the plaza within, while the exterior features folding perforated metal shutters. The following details are from Lucio Morini: These studios belong to the Córdoba Province City of the Arts, a campus housing painting, sculpture, photography, and music schools.
They are to be lent to invited artists for short periods of time, so that they can live and work in them and develop their work within a private realm, while sharing their life and work experience with the students. A large lifting glass door allows the interior of the studio to merge with the plaza. Container Studio by MB Architecture. New York studio MB Architecture have completed an art studio in the woods made of two steel shipping containers in Amagansett, New York. Called Container Studio, the structure features two containers positioned next to each other on a foundation wall, within which a basement has been created.
The height of the space was increased by cutting away most of the floor of the containers, connecting them with the basement space beneath. Above photograph is by Francine Fleischer. Glass façades seal the containers at either end. Photographs are by Dalton Portella unless otherwise stated. Here's some information from the architect: Art Studio - Amagansett, NY The client needed an art studio close to her house (which we renovated in 2008). Her requirements were for a space of about 700 sf and a stringent budget of $60,000; and for a simple structure that would be both inviting and reflective. The staircase itself acts as a transitional space for viewing art work. See also: Bru 1.25 by SoHo Architects. Stuttgart photographer Zooey Braun has sent us his images of this corrugated house in Bavaria, designed by German firm SoHo Architektur. Called Bru 1.25, the house was designed for the architect's brother.
The roof and external walls have been clad in fibre-cement corrugated panels, eliminating the need for rain-pipes or gutters. The timber structure has a double-height ceiling in the living space, visually connecting it to the upper floor. All photographs are by Zooey Braun. Here's some more from the architect SoHo Architektur, Alexander Nägele, Architekt Haus BRU 1.25, Heimertingen The 125,000 Euro detached home with 90 sqm habitable area was developed for a couple – precisely the architect’s brother – BRU 1.25.
Decisions on construction method, materiality and quality were primarily based on building costs. The timber building enables a strong connection between interior and exterior through the accurately positioned openings on ground level. Click above for larger image See also: A shop in a church by Merkx + Girod Architecten. Dutch architects Merkx + Girod have won the Lensvelt de Architect Interior Prize 2007 for their Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht - a bookstore inside a former Dominican church. Update: this project is included in Dezeen Book of Ideas, which is on sale now for £12. The prize jury said: "Merkx+Girod architects have created a contemporary bookshop in a former Dominican church, preserving the unique landmark setting.
The church has been restored to its former glory and the utilities equipment has been housed in the extended cellar. "In order to preserve the character of the church while achieving the desired commercial square footage, the architects erected a two-storey structure in black steel on one side, where the books are kept. Keeping the shop arrangement on the other side low created a clear and decipherable shop.
The jury was very impressed by these spatial solutions, as well as by the gorgeous lighting plan. Photos are by Roos Aldershoff. Mosquito Coast Factory by Benoît-Marie Moriceau and Gaston Tolila. Behind the sliding doors of a corrugated steel shed near Nantes, France, is an artist’s studio with a double-height atrium and translucent rear wall. French architect Gaston Tolila and artist Benoît-Marie Moriceau collaborated to design the building, which houses both accommodation and studios for resident artists. Daylight glows through the polycarbonate back wall and filters into the atrium that runs through the centre of the building.
Staircases lead up from here to overlooking galleries on the first floor. Studios are located on the ground floor below the galleries and facilitate woodwork, metalwork and painting. The building is named Mosquito Coast Factory, after a book by Peter Weir that features a metal factory in a Honduras jungle. Other buildings from the Dezeen archive with corrugated exteriors include a film storage bunker and a house clad in red fibre-cement. Photography is by Philippe Ruault. Here's a little more from the architects: Mosquito Coast Factory The Life of the Atelier. Trufa by Anton García-Abril. Photographer Roland Halbe has sent us his photographs of a holiday home in Spain by Anton García-Abril of Ensamble Studio, cast in the earth and hollowed out by a cow. Top and above photographs are copyright Roland Halbe. Called Trufa (Truffle), the project involved pouring concrete over hay bales stacked and burried inside soil from the surroundings.
Once hardened, the resulting shape was exhumed and sliced open. A cow (named Paulina) was then allowed to eat away the remaining hay bales to reveal the interior space over the course of a year. Watch a movie about the project's construction here. Here's the full story from the architect Anton García-Abril: The Truffle is a piece of nature built with earth, full of air. It camouflages, by emulating the processes of mineral formation in its structure, and integrates with the natural environment, complying with its laws. The earth and the concrete exchanged their properties. The architecture surprised us. See also:
The House with Balls by Matharoo Associates. Photographer Edmund Sumner has shared with us his photos of this house that cost just $12,000 to build by Matharoo Associates in Ahmadabad, India, featuring shutters weighted with concrete balls. Update: this project is included in Dezeen Book of Ideas, which is on sale now for £12. Called The House with Balls, the building was designed for the owner of an aquarium shop and houses four huge tanks for breeding fish. It also doubles as a weekend retreat. The long narrow main room is lined on both sides by shutters, opening on one side to the garden and over the tanks on the other. The concrete balls dip into the water on the tank side when the shutters are opened. The project has been awarded the AR House 2010 award. All photographs are copyright Edmund Sumner. More about Edmund Sumner's photographs on Dezeen: Here's some more information about the building, written by Rhys Williams: Ahmadabad India Matharoo Associates THE $100 per SQM HOUSE WITH BALLS Click above for larger image See also:
New Refuge Gervasutti by LEAPfactory. Climbers in the Alps can now spend their nights sleeping in a tube that cantilevers over the edge of a mountain. Top: photograph by Francesco Mattuzzi Named New Refuge Gervasutti, the survival unit was designed by Italian architects LEAPfactory, who specialise in modular accommodation for extreme environments. The tube was prefabricated off-site and airlifted to the site by helicopters. Above: photograph by Marco Destefanis A red pattern decorates the structure's exterior to make it visible to climbers and mountaineers, who will often be approaching from a distance. Above: photograph by Michelangelo Filippi Bunk beds and storage closets occupy the back of the pod, whilst a living room with integrated kitchen and dining table are located inside the cantilever.
A large window gives guests a wide view of the landscape outside and an integrated computer provides detailed information about the weather and climate. Photography is by Gughi Fassino, apart from where otherwise stated. Credits.