Binimelis-Barahona House | Polidura+Talhouk | Architecture

Casa Binimelis-Barahona Polidura+Talhouk Arquitectos

The assignment consisted in a house for a young marriage with two children, located on a 950 square meter situated in La Reserva lots in Chicureo, Colina, Chile.
The terrain presented three conditions that determined the actions taken that would finally define the project. Because of the lot being of triangular shape located in a corner, the legal edification lines left the constructible area in the center, a steep incline of 40%, and finally, sun exposure and views towards the valley.

The operation consists in separating the architecture program into two overlapping volumes parallel to the terrain lines, so when seen in section both volumes relate to the landscape.
The lower volume is buried in the terrain and adopts a materiality that allows you to understand it as a socle that blends with the landscape as well as the stone walls that enclose the site. In this volume the bedrooms connect with the garden that exists over the street level below.
The upper volume lies over it, by abstraction it differs from the stone socle and the terrain. In order to do this, we worked with simple geometry dressed in one only material with industrial shaping and a neutral color (gray stone). The volume breaks to prevent views towards the quarry orienting them to the valley.
This volume contains the public space and connects through the only opening to the garden located at the upper street level.
http://www.polidura-talhouk.com/

HYE RO HUN | IROJE KHM | Architecture

HYE RO HUN (House on Floating Land) IROJE KHM Architects

The house in urban nature
This site is located in borderline between city and mountain. The view of the front side that is the east-side is clearing up, so the urban landscape of downtown Gwangju is seen. There are mountains by the rear-side as a nature and view.

Dramatic access way from gate to entrance
By opening transparent gate door, it starts to begin access into the house, along the long walkway where looks like architectural canyon. After the penetration through under space of the upper bridge-corridor, it comes to reach the inner court that is attached to entrance. Two boxes on floating land
Two wooden boxes which are consisted of duplex room are laid on landscaped architectural mass which contain living room and dining room. The one box contains master bed and study room and another box is consisted of two bedrooms and study rooms for two daughters.

Two boxes on floating land

Two wooden boxes which are consisted of duplex room are laid on landscaped architectural mass which contain living room and dining room. The one box contains master bed and study room and another box is consisted of two bedrooms and study rooms for two daughters.

Floating garden over the living room - Special Space and Light of "Box inside Box"

Over the living room where has dynamic space in 9M high, double height master bed-mass with bamboo garden is floating - Through the top light of the roof, moving sunlight vary the atmosphere of the inside space of living room all day long.

Floating roads

Horizontal or vertical ways which are indoor or outdoor, all the ways inside of this house circulate itself continuosly each other with the dramatic sequence of the various space.
http://www.irojekhm.com/

Switch Building | nArchitects | Architecture

Switch Building nArchitects

Switch Building is a 7 storey apartment and art gallery building at 109 Norfolk Street in the Lower East Side, completed in 2007. The building consists of four floor-through apartments, a duplex penthouse, and a double height art gallery on the ground and cellar levels.

nARCHITECTS provided full architectural services for the project, including all interior design.

The project’s design emerges from a creative interpretation of some of the narrow constraints imposed by zoning and the developer’s needs. In a reinterpretation of a bay window, an angled front facade switches back and forth, allowing each floor-through apartment unique views up and down Norfolk Street. Switch Building is a 7 storey apartment and art gallery building at 109 Norfolk Street in the Lower East Side, completed in 2007.

The building consists of four floor-through apartments, a duplex penthouse, and a double height art gallery on the ground and cellar levels. nARCHITECTS provided full architectural services for the project, including all interior design. The project’s design emerges from a creative interpretation of some of the narrow constraints imposed by zoning and the developer’s needs. In a reinterpretation of a bay window, an angled front facade switches back and forth, allowing each floor-through apartment unique views up and down Norfolk Street.

From the inside, the bay windows provide deep window seats surrounded by warm hardwood. At the rear of each apartment, the living space extends out to large balconies, which also shift side to side, creating “double height” spaces between balconies that maximize afternoon light. While the apartment plans are identical, these variations allow each apartment to be unique in its light qualities and views to the city. The ‘switching’ concept extends to the Galvalume cladding panels, which alternate in direction from floor to floor, creating subtle differences in shadows and reflections. The project’s standard PTAC units are disguised with custom AC grilles that are integrated with the cladding panels.


Switch Gallery has a black hot-rolled steel and glass storefront and canopy that opens completely, allowing for openings to extend onto the sidewalk. At the rear of the gallery, visitors can descend into a double height volume, illuminated by a large skylight. The gallery introduces a larger scale into the Lower East Side’s burgeoning art gallery scene, which has been primarily inserting cultural programs into former tenement buildings.

Location: L.E.S., New York
Program: New building with art gallery and 5 apartments.
Area: 14,000 sf
Completion: 2004-2007
Consultants Sharon Engineering
Team: Eric Bunge, Mimi Hoang; Daniela Zimmer, Jorge Pereira, Takuya Shinoda.
Client: 109 Norfolk, LLC
Contractors: Builders & HVAC; George Dimizas/G&G Metal (steel packages and facade)

Oakland House | Kanner Architects | Architecture

Oakland House Kanner Architects

Oakland House is located on a down sloping site high above the San Francisco Bay.
The home was designed to capture the magnificent vista that spans the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge. Floor to ceiling glass clears the way to unobstructed views.

The predominantly south-southwest orientation required deep overhangs to cut down glare and soften the light quality in the home. Spare and rigorously modern in its aesthetic, the home has only a handful of materials and even fewer colours.

Concrete floors, steel and glass windowsystems, and a mostly white composition of cabinetry and furnishings define the minimalist composition. Faced with its own set of logistical problems the design posed challenges from every aspect. The clients were clear in their vision of having a modern haven, simplistic and uncluttered. There was the risk that the strict building regulations on new builds and the sheer geography of the site could compromise these ideals.

Spare and uncluttered, minimalism is as much about lifestyle as design and this residence is meticulously modern. Perched on a steeply sloping plot within the Oakland hills, the architects had a number of factors challenging their design. The owners knew they wanted open, light-filled spaces composed of concrete, steel and lots of glass to take advantage of fantastic views of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. They found a shared design vision in architects Stephen Kanner and Damian LeMons of Santa Monica's Kanner Architects, a firm known for its modernist approach to site and light.

"Most of our work tends toward the rectilinear," says Kanner, "but the clients told me from the beginning that they wanted curves." This seeming incompatibility proved to be a positive element in the collaboration. The area itself originally formed part of the Broadway Terrace that suffered in the firestorms of 1991 therefore strict regulations imposing height limitations and setbacks were imposed on new builds. Rectangular shapes would simply not be allowed. Kanner managed to stay within the height limits by stepping the house down the hill in two sections connected with a narrow steel-and-glass bridge, and solved the setback issue by using sweeping curves for the perimeter walls, forming a simple hourglass shape.

The spaces flow together to form a logical whole with great flexibility. There is a clear expression of hierarchy between the main living space, the bedroom downstairs and the secondary spaces. The clients were clear in their requirements of having unfettered access to the views in their main living quarters, which occupy the entire lower levels of the house.
Kanner concurs: "Our work is light and warm, though typically less whimsical than what the clients had in mind. But it turned into an interesting collaboration and a bold personal statement--a true expression of the owners and the site."

The house is approached from the top of the hill, where a low-profile carport with glass walls lets the owners enjoy the view from the very moment of arrival. The materials were kept to a simple palette of plaster, concrete, glass and steel. Translucent elements such as steel cable have been used for the stair railing, floor-to-ceiling glass walls on the bridge expand upon the guiding themes of openness and light. The exterior smooth walls are covered in smooth plaster, alternating with a scratch coat of plaster thickly applied in a herringbone pattern on the curved walls intended to catch the light in a variety of different ways.