Flames consume architectural icon

Mourning for an icon of architectural history: A disastrous fire raged through Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art in early June, engulfing the famous library wing in the process. The blaze seems to have started when a projector exploded in the school basement, and the flames reached the attic within a matter of minutes. Since completion of the extinguishing work and provisional assessment of the damage, it has become apparent that at least the building itself can be saved along with the archives. The Mackintosh Library, however, the key design feature of the building, is a complete loss.  

The famous library has been destroyed completely. Photo: Scottish Fire and Rescue

Photo: Phyllis Buchanan

The School of Art, which at the time of the fire disaster was still in use in its original function, was built in two stages between 1898 und 1909 according to the plans of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, an architect merely 28 years of age when the work began. The building is regarded internationally as an art nouveau classic, although Mackintosh (like his Catalonian counterpart Antonio Gaudi) cannot truly be assigned to a single style. 

Photo: Christian Schittich

On the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2009, the Glasgow School of Art was voted the best British-designed building in this period. It was only recently, namely in March, that an extension that also accommodates the school's new visitors' centre was completed on the other side of the street according to plans by Steven Holl.

Photo: Christian Schittich

Seamless copper skin: Staircase on Mallorca

A sculptural staircase in the form of irregularly perforated copper panels is the central element of Villa Mallorca. The staircase leads over three storeys and creates a visual link to the copper details throughout the interior and exterior of the building.

Design: Sergey Mishin, Katya Larina, Studio Mishin Architectural Bureau, St Petersburg
Planning of the stairs: Jan Wurm, Charlotte Heesbeen, ARUP Deutschland, Berlin
Lighting: Emily Dufner, Paula Longato, ARUP Deutschland, Berlin
Local architects: Daniel Llofriu Pou, Alberto Arquimbau, Spain
Location: Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

In addition to 3,500 m² of living space, the building ensemble owned by a Russian businessman in Palma de Mallorca offers a generously-sized spa area with an indoor and outdoor pool and breath-taking views of the sea. Perforated copper elements are a fixed component of the design drawn up by the Studio Mishin architectural bureau. In the outdoor area copper is encountered in the "gabions" – vertical elements with openings filled by plants, thus providing the house with a green outer wall in places. This theme continues indoors in the design of the central staircase element.

Photo: Studio Mishin

Green gabions, Photo: Studio Mishin

Once the alterations to the villa had more or less been completed, the Arup Materials Team of Berlin was commissioned to plan and engineer the structure of the central staircase on the basis of Studio Mishin's design. The staircase, which acts as the centrepiece of the architects' plan, consists of irregularly perforated copper panels that completely hide the substructure. Steel beams integrated into the stringers and anchored to the concrete floor members support the individual flights. The client also wished all fixings and the panel joints to be as invisible as possible.

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

The client wanted a continuous and, as far as possible, a seamless copper skin without visible fixings, load-bearing elements or joints. Joints were reduced to 1.5 mm in width. The sides of the steps are outlined in light to underscore them additionally. Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

The custom-developed parapets involve laminated veneer lumber panels and required close collaboration with the constructors and a number of mock-ups. Almost 200 square metres of composite panels were produced for the staircase structure alone, and some 12,000 perforations were carried out with a CNC water jet cutter. Some of the panels are perforated all the way through; in others, the copper alone was perforated. Applying the metal to the wood with the required precision made it necessary to first cut the perforations into the metal, then partially fold the metal and glue it to the wood and finally to cut the perforations again, this time all the way through the assembly.

Diagram: Arup

Photo: Arup

Photo: Arup

Photos: Arup

Diagram: Arup

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

Thanks to integration of the lighting design at an early design stage it was possible to realise a lighting solution that is both functional and decorative. To minimise maintenance, use has been made of LEDs and fibre optics. The fibre optics cables are fixed to the inside of the panels and at the side of the steps and are completely invisible. Since an inspection panel was not desired, all the technical elements are maintenance-free, whereby the fibre optics cables are connected to an external light source that can be serviced. LEDs let into the ceiling light the staircase from above and create an additional lighting scenario.

Photos: Arup

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

Photo: Quintin Lake Photography

Foto: Quintin Lake Photography

Light and shade: Townhouse in Lisbon

ARX Portugal Arquitectos has designed a house with two completely different facades to meet the needs for privacy and openness. On the street side the houses closes itself off with a system of horizontal and vertical limestone elements that create an impression of depth according to the incidence of light. On the rear side the façade is glazed and open in character, however, and provides the possibility to step outside on every storey.

Architects: ARX Portugal Arquitectos, lda., José Mateus, Nuno Mateus
Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Photo: Fernando Guerra

The architects have succeeded in creating a design that responsively merges in with the neighbouring buildings on the one hand while interpreting recurring Lisbon traditions on the other. The typical parcel of land on which the townhouse stands is a mere six metres wide but 15 metres long, and reaches all the way from the street to a garden at the back of the property. The five storeys of the building are aligned to the eave and storey heights of the neighbouring houses for a uniform frontage. 

Model: ARX Portugal Arquitectos

However, the front and rear elevations could not differ more in terms of materials and character. On the private side of the house, expanses of glass provide unimpeded views of the small secluded garden and the city beyond. In contrast, the pale limestone typical of Lisbon gives the street facade a closed look. 

Panoramic view over Lisbon's roof tops through the rear windows

Spots to the street
Photos: Fernando Guerra

A grid of horizontal and vertical limestone elements forms a rhythmic structure at the front and provides it a sense of depth. Depending on the position of the sun, this effect is underscored by a play of light and shade that changes with the subtle light of morning and the strongly contrasting shadows of the afternoon. The horizontal strips make the storeys clearly legible, while room-high window elements open up the façade and find increasing use the higher the building gets. Down on the street level it was the architects' intention to close the building almost completely off to the street with its parked cars and passers-by.   

Model: ARX Portugal Arquitectos

A garage and storage room are located along with a living room on the ground floor. Since the plot falls in height towards the garden, the staircase in the storey below leads directly to the green outdoor space where a splendid linden tree grows. The generously-proportioned kitchen on the basement level forms a visual continuum with the garden, where natural stone enclosure walls enhance the broader sense of space. 

Longitudinal section

Floor plan garden level: ARX Portugal Arquitectos

Ground floor plan: ARX Portugal Arquitectos

Second floor plan: ARX Portugal Arquitectos

Photos: Fernando Guerra

Inside, the house presents itself in a restricted choice of materials. The firewalls, ceilings and the inner functional and access core are built of exposed concrete made with wooden shuttering, and form the building's basic load-bearing structure. Doors and certain partition walls in birch introduce a feeling of warmth to the rooms. 

Photos: Fernando Guerra

Single-flight stairs connect the five stories and divide the 15-metre-long rooms into two exact halves. These have an open-plan design and make a roomy impression. 

Photo: Fernando Guerra

Photos: Fernando Guerra

The highlight of the house is the roof garden on the fifth and uppermost floor. Hidden away behind the limestone elements of the street elevation, it does not have the feel of a usual roof patio but is more like an indoor space from which the ceiling and windows have been removed. At the same time it forms a transition between the two neighbouring buildings of differing height, and offers outlooks onto Lisbon that make it possible to gain an impression of the city's size. 

Photos: Fernando Guerra

On every storey there is also the possibility to step outside onto a balcony and open the house up completely to the garden side. On the street side, views into the house are almost completely blocked off for visual privacy. The overall effect is one of a harmonious balance of open and closed facades. 

Photo: Fernando Guerra

Structural engineer: SAFRE, Projectos e Estudos de Engenharia Lda.
M&E and home security: Energia Técnica - Gabinete de Engenharia, Lda
Contractor: Manuel Mateus Frazão
Building area: 436 m²
Period of planning: 2010 - 2011
Period of construction: 2012 – 2013

Breaking out of bleakness: Mehdi Ghadyanloo paints Tehran

Making our city brighter: under this motto – and with permission from the municipal government – dozens of colourful murals are currently being created on Tehran’s otherwise rather bleak building exteriors.
With his company, Blue Sky Painters, Iranian artist and designer Mehdi Ghandyanloo is transforming grey walls into fascinating, large-scale works of art.
The colourful scenes are often quite surreal, for instance a man riding a bicycle vertically down the wall, cars whizzing through the sky, people walking upside down or a cloud raining directly over a (real) tree. In another mural, 3-D effects have been used to create the impression of the building folding up like an accordion.
All of Ghandyanloo’s works fit seamlessly into their surroundings. The artist has already completed more than a hundred murals, hoping to “bring a bit of harmony, or at least colour, to the face of our smog-veiled city”.
Source: Beautiful Life

by editorial office Detail Daily on 06/24/2014