‘Prologue’ – 2009 UniSA Architecture & Interior Graduate Exhibition
November 29, 2009 at 7:09 pm | Posted in architecture, events | Leave a commentTags: 2009, architecture, graduate exhibition, interior architecture, uniSA
The annual University of South Australia Architecture and Interior Architecture graduate exhibition is on once again. Fittingly titled ‘Prologue’, the 2009 exhibition showcases the work of the graduating students and is open to the public from Friday, November 27 until Wednesday, December 2.
If you happen to be passing by the west end of town between 9am and 5pm (I’m pretty sure they are the opening hours) drop by and check it out:
UniSA City West Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide
Level 5, Kaurna Building / BH5 – 16
Below are a few photographs that I took at the opening night:
Freshwater House – Chenchow Little Architects
November 9, 2009 at 11:40 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, australia, houses, robin boyd award
The Freshwater House was recently announced as the winner of the 2009 Robin Boyd Award – Australia’s highest award for residential architecture.
Designed by Chenchow Little Architects, the house is situated in the coastal Sydney suburb of Harbord, overlooking Queenscliffe Bay and an adjacent reserve.
From the street the house appears as a modernist black box floating above a wall of weathered timber slats. Made from recylcled spotted gum, the timber slats conceal the garage while also forming a podium for the garden terrace and main living area above.
The use of full height glazing and sliding doors creates a strong connection between the internal living areas and the lawned terrace. (How cool is the lone tree and the little lawn mound?)
The bedrooms on the the upper level are enclosed by a series of dark metal slatted screens. These operable screens allow the house to take advantage of the amazing view through extensive glazing while still allowing for sun control and privacy.
Photos: John Gollings
For more work by Chenchow Little Architects visit their website here.
Related Post:
Vader House – Andrew Maynard Architects
October 29, 2009 at 10:57 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | 3 CommentsTags: architecture, australia, houses, steel, vader
The Vader House, design by Andrew Maynard Architects is an extension to a two storey Victorian terrace house located in inner city Melbourne. The form, dictated by planning restrictions and the tight site, is a clever solution that creates open, flexible spaces and blurs the boundaries between inside and out.
Some of my favourite details in this thoroughly considered house include; the folded steel stair, the expressed hanging beam over the walkway to the existing building that appears as if it’s floating over the lounge space and, the sliding deck that reveals a hidden spa beneath. I also really like the warmth and grittiness that is created by leaving the existing brick walls exposed in contrast to the clean, hard edges of the new joinery.
I’m pretty sure the name “Vader House” refers to the black, machine-like steel structure and louvres having a slight resemblance to the helmet of the Star Wars character Darth Vader (see video below).
For more information and photos visit the Andrew Maynard Architects website here.
Youtube video via arquitectoslatinos.com
Photos: Peter Bennetts
Box House – Alan Chu & Cristiano Kato
September 25, 2009 at 10:46 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | 4 CommentsTags: brazil, small houses, stone, timber
I really like small architecture and the Box House by Alan Chu and Cristiano Kato is no exception.
The 3x5m box is the caretaker’s house on a property on Ilhabela Island, overlooking the São Sebastião Channel near São Paulo, Brazil. On the upper floor in the white suspended box is the bedroom and beneath it is the living room, kitchen and bathroom.
For more information and pictures visit Archdaily here.
To visit the Alan Chu – Cristiano Kato Architects website click here.
Photos: Dan Chu
Below is the home page picture of the Alan Chu – Cristiano Kato Architects website. It looks really cool so I had to add it to this entry.
The Desert House – Marmol Radziner
August 31, 2009 at 11:31 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | 1 CommentTags: desert house, modernism, modular, prefab
This post will be the first of many on a particular interest of mine – pre-fabricated and modular houses.
Architects statement:
The Desert House is located on a five-acre site in Desert Hot Springs, California. The house is oriented to best capture views of San Jacinto peak and the surrounding mountains. The house extends through the landscape with additional, covered outdoor living areas, which double the 185 square metre interior spaces. A detached prefab carport allows the owners to leave the car behind as they approach their home.
Designed for principal Leo Marmol and his wife Alisa Becket, the Desert House was completed in 2005 and is the prototype for Marmol Radziner Prefab. The Desert House employs four house modules and six deck modules, a quantity chosen to suit the wide desert landscape. The climate inspired us to create covered outdoor living areas, and we developed sunshade modules to provide solar protection. Sheltered living spaces blend indoors with outdoors, simultaneously extending and connecting the house to the north wing, which holds a guest house and studio space. By forming an “L,” the home also establishes a protected, exterior environment that includes a pool and fire pit.
The Desert House derives 100% of its power from solar panels, while sunshades on the south and west facades minimize the impact of the harsh summer sun. In colder months, concrete floors provide passive solar heat gain, helping us to make the home sustainable. – Marmol Radziner
To visit the Marmol Radziner Prefab website click here.
the fabrication process in the factory
transporting the modules to site
preparing to lift the modules in to place
Images via Crosby Doe Associates website. To view more click here.
Highgate Hill Residence – Richard Kirk Architect
August 11, 2009 at 12:17 am | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, australia, houses, timber battens
The Highgate Hill Residence, by Richard Kirk Architects is a beautifully detailed house located in the inner Brisbane suburb of Highgate Hill.
Screened from the street by fine hardwood timber battens, the living area opens up to built-up platforms of timber decking and lawn, which in turn overlook the lush gully beyond.
‘In response to the dominance of the landscape, the house is entirely clad in timber and uses timber glazed façade systems where each species is selected to age in response to its orientation and weathering.’ – Richard Kirk Architects
The living and kitchen areas open up completely to the north and east through the use of sliding, stacking hardwood doors.
Spatially, the internal void over the living area plays quite an important role in the house. It creates a vertical connection with the existing trees outside to the north, allows daylight to flood the space from the south and separates the children’s bedrooms from the master bedroom on the upper floor.
‘The stair is an important organizational reference between the levels and is treated as a sculptural element that twists slightly within the void to allow its form to visually link all levels.’ – Richard Kirk Architects
Photos: Patrick Bingham Hall, Scott Burrows
For further reading visit the Richard Kirk Architects website here.
Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
July 29, 2009 at 9:19 pm | Posted in architecture, film, photography | Leave a commentTags: architecture, julius shulman, photography, visual acoustics
This film has been on my list of things to blog about for a while so I figured this would be a fitting follow up to my previous entry; a tribute to the late Julius Shulman.
Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, Visual Acoustics explores the monumental career of 98-year-old architectural photographer, Julius Shulman. Populating his photos with human models and striking landscapes, Shulman combined the organic with the synthetic, melding nature with revolutionary urban design. The resulting images helped to shape the careers of some of the greatest architects of the 20th Century, with Shulman documenting the work of Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Pierre Koenig, John Lautner, and many others.
For those of you who happen to be in Melbourne there is a screening of Visual Acoustics this weekend (Sunday August 2) as a part of the Melbourne International Film Festival. I’m afraid I’ll just have to wait for the theatre release or when it comes out on DVD though. 
For more information visit the official website at www.juliusshulmanfilm.com
Julius Shulman (1910 – 2009)
July 28, 2009 at 10:54 pm | Posted in architecture, photography | Leave a commentTags: architecture, julius shulman, photography
Photo: Dan Winters
“What good is a dream house if you haven’t got a dream?” -Julius Shulman
Just a few months shy of his 99th birthday, Julius Shulman, the photographer famous for his iconic photos of modern homes and a glamorous post-war Los Angeles, died at his home in L.A. on Wednesday the 15th of August.
His love and respect for Modernist architecture, his amazing photos and his contagiously charming personality led him to be a well respected champion of the modernist architecture movement.
Shulman’s architectural photography career began by chance at the young age of 26 when his photos of an incomplete house designed by Richard Neutra impressed the architect so much that he offered him money for them and invited him to take more. This talent for photography not only launched his own career but arguably the careers of many of the period’s most famous architects such as Rudolph Schindler, Pierre Koenig, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Raphael Soriano (who designed Shulman’s own house, which he lived in for decades.)
His work, whether in black and white or colour, was never just about composition and light. It was about lifestyle. He was the first architectural photographer to plant men, women, and children like props inside buildings.
Photo: Genaro Molina
Above is a photo of Julius Shulman at work photographing the now famous Stahl House (Case Study House #22) and below is a link to a short video of Julius talking about his most famous photograph that could easily be said to be the signature image of 1960’s Los Angeles.
For a great article that gives an insight into the life of the charming, brilliant, and cantankerous architectural photographer in 36 exposures visit the LAmag website here.
Onepoto Footbridge – Beca Architects
June 24, 2009 at 12:03 am | Posted in architecture | 1 CommentTags: architecture, bridge, glue laminated timber, new zealand
Photo via Flickr: Ray Tomes
The Onepoto Footbridge is a shared use bridge for pedestrians and cyclists located in the Onepoto Basin, north of Auckland. Completed in 2008, it was designed by Beca Architects for the North Shore City Council.
“This vision was developed into an architectural form simulating a breaking wave, realised through a series of glue laminated timber rib components. From a sustainable urban design view, the bridge creates interest that encourages pedestrians and cyclists to use it. It also provides comfort for pedestrians and cyclists, separating them from the road.” Beca Architects
There is some very nice detailing in this project such as the view shafts notched into some of the timber ribs to allow people passing by to catch glimpses of the surroundings. Lighting has also been set into the concrete path to differentiate between the pedestrian and cyclist sides.
I also think the timber ribs also look a bit like a fish or whale skeleton sticking out of the mud amongst the surrounding mangroves.
For further reading visit NZ Wood here.
Visit the Beca architects website here.
Photo via Flickr: beejayge
Photos: Simon Devitt
Photo: Simon Devitt
Click on the above elevation to view a pdf brochure of the project containing this drawing and other images at shwan.net
Binimelis House – Polidura + Talhouk Arquitectos
May 27, 2009 at 12:00 am | Posted in architecture, houses | 2 CommentsTags: architecture, chile, concrete, houses, stone, timber
The Binimelis House designed by Polidura + Talhouk Arquitectos is located in Colina, Chile and is situated on a triangular shaped block with a slope of 40%. The living spaces are located upstairs with the bedrooms cut into the hillside downstairs.
The house has been orientated parallel with the terrain to create a direct relationship with the landscape on both levels while also taking advantage of the northern sun and views (an ideal arrangement with street access to the upper living areas from the south). A kink in the upper volume also directs the occupant’s view toward the valley and away from a nearby quarry.
Concrete, timber and stone form the simple, yet beautiful palette of materials but it is how they are used that is most appealing to me. The lower level’s organic dry stone walls create a nice contrast with the crisp and sharp nature of the upper level’s gloss stone tiles, reinforcing the appearance that the upper level is just sitting or floating there.
The stone tile cladding on the upper floor is also interestingly detailed. Check out the section detail showing this cladding extending onto the roof and how there is no hidden box gutter – the water would just run off the edge and down the walls. The other section showing the window/door opening has a 50×50 steel angle near the roof edge. I assume this would divert the rain to either side of the opening. It would be interesting to see how this works in a heavy downpour.
Photos: Aryeh Kornfeld
Visit the Polidura + Talhouk Arquitectos website here.
For more photographs and drawings visit Archdaily here.
Via Archdaily
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