The Void House is a cleanly done modern rowhouse in Belgium by Metahaven which makes the unusual choice leaving the entire ground floor open for public/outdoor functions. The entry level is elevated above onto a concrete slab floor, accessed from the rear. The entire structure is fir from the Black Forest, walls and floor are bamboo. Open floor plan living at its best: no walls, entirely open, minimalist detailing. Love it.
I've been a long time fan of Mario Botta's work, and I wanted to take a more in-depth look at some of the church projects he's completed. I've included map links to make it easy for anyone architectural tourists out there to find these projects and visit, which I highly recommend.
Botta's Sacred Spaces In 1995 Evry, France saw the completion of Botta's design for the Cathedral of Resurrection. He says, "I believe the cathedral is a necessity for those who believe and also for those who do not. It is a testimony that connects us to the great past, when our beautiful, old cities were new." The cathedral is just over 17,000 sq ft in size. Aerial view in google maps.
(exterior, Cathedral of the Resurrection)
(interior, Cathedral of the Resurrection, by flickr user Clement Guillaume)
(section, Cathedral of the Resurrection)
In the late 1990's he was commissioned to replace the facade of a church in Genestrerio, Italy that was in severe disrepair. Botta's facade is supported by a concrete bearing structure with split red Verona stone. Aerial view in google maps.
If you're willing enough to make the drive up to Mogno, Italy through steeply inclining roads and hairpin turns you'll be pleasantly rewarded with black and white Chapel of St. John the Baptist. The dark stone courses are Riveo granite, the white are Peccia marble. A 1986 avalanche destroyed much of the village and the church; this was designed as a replacement and a stand of defiance for the village in response the the destructive force of nature they had experienced. Google Map link here.
(exterior, Mogno Chapel)
(interior, Mogno Chapel)
A great video showing the approach to the chapel as well as a walk thru:
One of my personal favorite buildings would include Botta's Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, atop Monte Tamaro in Switzerland. I did a previous blog post on this building, found here. This black and white photo is still the best I've found. Google Maps link here.
A video from the 'catwalk' on top of the Chapel at Monte Tamaro. the view is unparalleled:
Botta From a Distance As an additional note, many of Botta's buildings are strong and simple geometric shapes, and often he doesn't deviate much from that. Many times a simple truncated cylinder, they tend to stand out clearly in a landscape, town or city. As the photos below illustrate, Botta's buildings have the fantastic quality of both blending in with the townscapes they exist in, while uniquely defining themselves.
The Dovecote Studio by Haworth Tompkins has been receiving quite a bit of press around the blogosphere lately, and it immediately brought to mind a similar project, the S(ch)austall deigned by FNP Architekten.
As part of the music campus at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, UK, Haworth Tompkin's design inset a Corten steel studio in the ruins of a brick Victorian dovecote. A large northern window on the roof allows even ambient daylight into the simple plywood interior.
The S(ch)austall turned a ruined pigsty into a showroom, a name that is played upon in its title, as saustall = pigsty, and schaustall = showroom. FNP set a wood framed box inside the stone ruins, aligning new windows with existing openings. A thin, understated roofs protects both new and old elements. This project was the winner of a 2005 AR Award for Emerging Architecture.
Both projects achieve an attractive marriage of modern and historic, ruined and new, in a cleanly finished transition to the space's new function.
This project fascinates me. I literally spent half an hour dissecting every photo and studying plans and diagrams.
This former victorian house in Ottawa, Canada was completely re-thought and re-modeled by Kariouk Associates. This remodel take the process several steps further though than your standard gut & build. Kariouk's design essentially called for the entire house to be gutted to a shell and the exterior walls supported by the introduction of a steel skeleton frame. With a newly open 2-story 'box', they inserted 3 'introverted' living living areas suspended on the 2nd floor. The whole box area is kept open by the use of knee walls instead of full height walls around the study and leisure areas. The master suite was set on top as a visually distinctive exterior element. The whole project just works. Well.
(Concept diagrams explain the relocation of spaces)
(click to enlarge interior photos)(click to enlarge floor plans)
I've seen renderings of this place around the web for a few months, and it appears that Qb Design has finally completed the Split Level House in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia. I'm very impressed with the way that Qb played off the curved corner facade of the property across the street with a modern spin.
(photo by Filip Dujardin)
(photo by Filip Dujardin)
(photo by Filip Dujardin)
(photo by Filip Dujardin)
(photo by Filip Dujardin)
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