SEOUL MEMORIAL PARK BY HAEAHN ARCHITECTURE

Secluded by mountain hills from a bustling highway gateway, Seoul Memorial Park rests in a serene valley area of the Woo-Myun Mountain on the outskirts of Seoul, South Korea.

Seoul Memorial Park is a crematorium constructed in harmony with the natural terrain of the site, which previously lent calming scenic views to meditative passing-by hikers, and is now converted to a sanctuary for solemn rituals concluding life’s journeys.

To overcome the unwelcomed response from the community, this crematorium was sought to be a “non-erected” building. 

Instead, Seoul Memorial Park emerges as a form of “land art” sculpted into the existing topography with a flowing array of architectural forms and motifs.  Concaved at the center of the Park, lies a courtyard encompassed by a series of ritual spaces devoted to separate functions.

These spatial layers bordering the courtyard resonate from a distance with the surrounding mountain trails and ridges.

The 2-storey high crematorium facility configured in the curvilinear belt along the courtyard has roof structures linked in the way flower petals pinwheel one another, punctuated by a reflective pool at the very heart of the courtyard.

Families in bereavement take the final journey of parting as they encircle the courtyard along a path reminiscent of spiritual spaces with vaulted ceilings and indirect lighting.

Towards the cremation alcove, the ceiling rises drastically as a clearstory above a triforum. Upon completion of the path, a meandering garden comforts the bereft.

As the water from the mountain flows  down and gives life to the garden, one might be reminded of the transfiguration of sorrows in praise of the harmony in nature.

The garden shimmers with sunlight, whispers with snowfalls, and dances with spring rains. Season by season, tranquility is discovered and the spirit is renewed.

Just as nature was dissolved into a building to rest in the valley, Seoul Memorial Park was embodied in a piece of land art to celebrate life and transfigure sorrows.

Architects: HAEAHNarchitecture

Client: Seoul Municipal Facilities Management Corporation

Date of Completion: 2012

Site Area: 36,000 m2

Project Area: 18,000 m2

source: Bustler

REM KOOLHAAS JENCKS AWARD 2012…. BIENNALE 2014?

Quest'anno il Jencks Award è stato assegnato a Rem Koolhaas, dopo Steven Holl nel 2010 e precentemente a Zaha Hadid, Peter Eisenmann, Coop Himmelb(l)au e nel 2007 a UNstudio.

Il Premio viene assegnato ogni anno dal RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) "a un singolo (o a uno studio) che, a livello internazionale, abbia di recente apportato un rilevante contributo simultaneo alla teoria e alla pratica dell'architettura". L’assegnazione del prestigioso Premio Jencks  sarà consegnato il prossimo 20 Novembre presso il Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) di Londra.

Rem Koolhaas da sempre è impegnato per approfondire e ampliare il legame intrinseco tra architettura e cultura contemporanea, è la sua attività è riconosciuta a livello internazionale vincendo diversi premi internazionali, tra cui il Royal RIBA Gold Medal, il Pritzker Architecture Prize nel 2000 e il Leone d'oro alla carriera alla Biennale di Venezia 2010.

“Più di ogni altro architetto della sua generazione, ha investito nella creazione di due vite parallele - una di teoria e una di pratica dell'architettura.
Questa impresa doppio è caratterizzato dal suo studio gemello, OMAe AMO, l’Office of Metropolitan Architecture ed la Architecture Media Organisation.

La separazione di questi 'gemelli siamesi' ha lo scopo di 'liberare pensiero architettonico dalla pratica architettonica.” Questo è il commento di Charles Jencks, giornalista ma soprattutto progettista di giardini che ha realizzato “Thegarden of cosmic speculation” e ha recentemente partecipato, come consulente del paesaggio, con Peter Eisenman al concorso “Istanbul’s Yenikapi” risultando tra i progetti vincitori.

Il nome di Rem Koolhaas è in questi giorni oggetto di “rumor” come possibile candidato per la prossima Biennale del 2014, come risulta da un tweet di Kieran Long, critico di architettura per il London Evening Standard e direttore del magazine Architects Journal.

Voci che hanno fatto il giro del mondo, pubblicate nelle principali testate internazionali, ma che testimoniano le perplessità sulla Biennale 2012 di DavidChipperfield e intravedono Rem Koolhaas come “unico” candidato possibile per una discussione profonda e una critica aperta sui temi dell’architettura contemporanea.

ROLEX LEARNING CENTER AT EPFL BY SANAA

Barely five weeks after the opening of the Rolex Learning Center, the verdict fell—the building’s architects, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SAANA), were announced the winners of the 2010 Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious prize in architecture.

The jury celebrated an “…architecture that is simultaneously delicate and powerful, precise and fluid, ingenious but not overly or overtly clever; for the creation of buildings that successfully interact with their contexts and the activities they contain, creating a sense of fullness and experiential richness”.

At the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Japanese architects’ unique procédure allowed for a dream to become a reality by creating what one might call the first “enhanced library.”

The size of two football pitches the complex has been described as a 'constructed landscape' and includes libraries, mulit-media centres, cafés and research spaces.

The Rolex Learning Center will function as a laboratory for learning, a library with 500,000 volumes and an international cultural hub for EPFL, open to both students and the public.

Spread over one single fluid space of 20,000 sq metres, it provides a seamless network of services, libraries, information gathering, social spaces, spaces to study, restaurants, cafes and beautiful outdoor spaces.

It is a highly innovative building, with gentle slopes and terraces, undulating around a series of internal 'patios', with almost invisible supports for its complex curving roof, which required completely new methods of construction.

"The Rolex Learning Center," Patrick Aebischer, President of EPFL, said, "exemplifies our university as a place where traditional boundaries between disciplines are broken down, where mathematicians and engineers meet with neuroscientists and microtechnicians to envision new technologies that improve lives. We invite the public into this space to convey the message that working in science is working for the advancement of society."

Seen from above, its shape resembles Emmentaler cheese(also known as Swiss Emmenthal) typical of Switzerland and known all over the world characterised  by the holes, that formedduring maturation.

EPFL is one of the world's leading universities in technology and science, renowned for its innovations in research and learning. It is currently ranked number one in Europe alongside Cambridge in the fields of Engineering Technology and Computer Sciences.

The campus, on a site overlooking Lake Geneva and the Alps, brings together over 4,000 researchers, and 7,000 students, who work in a highly collaborative environment with international experts in engineering, science and industry.

The Rolex Learning Center has been financed by the Swiss government and major Swiss businesses. Rolex's participation in the project is the fruit of a long-standing relationship with EPFL in research into materials science and microtechnology for watch design, and its deep rooted tradition of philanthropy in the arts, science and culture through the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.

Architect: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA

Team: Yumiko Yamada, Rikiya Yamamoto, Osamu Kato, Naoto Noguchi, Mizuko Kaji, Takayuki Hasegawa, Louis-Antoine Grego

Location: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland

Competition: 2004

Construction: 2007 – 2009

Opening: February 22, 2010

Construction Cost: 110 Million CHF

Project Area: 88,000sqm (166.5m x 121.5m)

OIR - OTHER IDEAS FOR RIO

'Awilda' by  Jaume Plensa

This September, six famous artists from different parts of the world will occupy public spaces in Rio with their art installations. The idea is to turn the city of Rio itself into one giant public art gallery, making comtemporary art accessible to all. The artists were brought to Rio through the project OiR (Other Ideas for Rio) – a deliberate anagram for Rio.

Labyrinth by Robert Morris

Robert Morris, a key figure in the world of minimalism, is building a maze of glass that will be displayed in the middle of Cinelândia.

77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno

The English musician, Brian Eno, who has produced the likes of U2 and Dave Bowie, will be setting up his audiovisual art installation 77 Million Paintings at the Arcos da Lapa.

'Awilda' by  Jaume Plensa

Responsible for the enormous LED screens which spouted water out onto the streets in Chicago, renowned Catalonian artist artist Juame Plensa, will place his large sculpture in the shape of a human head at Flamengo beach.

Fold by Andy Goldsworthy

Englishman Andy Goldsworthy’s, who usually works with natural materials, will have his work showcased at Zona Portuária (the harbor area), as well Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda in Arpoador, and Brazilian Henrique Oliveira in Madureira.

Infinite by Ryoji Ikeda

On September 7th, all six artists will introduce their masterpieces to the city. The choice of locations, which the artists themselves picked out, is as diverse as the their different styles and techniques. The works of art will be on display until November 2nd. The public art project will run every two years until 2016 with new artists showing their creations.

Tapume by Henrique Oliveira

RANCO HOUSE BY ELTON + LENIZ ARQUITECTOS

Immersa nel verde delle pendici del monti del Parco Nazionale di Puyehue, un’area naturale incontaminata nel Cile meridionale presso il confine con l’Argentina, questa abitazione monofamiliare è stata progetta dallo studio Elton+Leniz per godere delle meraviglie del paesaggio.

Il Lago Ranco è un bacino pre-andino, compreso nel cosiddetto sistema de los Siete Lagos, ancora non molto frequentato dai turisti locali che preferiscono la stazione termale di Peyehue, ma consente di ammirare un panorama suggestivo ricco di risorse naturali e di storia, abitato fin dall'antichità dalle popolazioni indigene appartenenti all’etniaHuilliche.

La felice ubicazione, data anche da un piccolo promontorio con roccia, ha determinato la disposizione degli spazi abitativi e la disposizione delle volumetrie inserendosi perfettamente con il contesto naturale.

Due distinti volumi, collegati tra loro da un “ponte” vetrato su entrambi i lati, si articolano tra uno sperone di roccia e gli alberi esistenti, dividendo il soggiorno dalle camere in uno schema ormai classico che consente di integrarsi perfettamente con la natura del luogo.

Anche in verticale la casa presenta una particolarità dovuta alla realizzazione di un basamento in cemento, nel quale vi è una dependance per gli ospiti e le camere del piano terra, disponendo la zona giorno al livello superiore dal quale si può ammirare il suggestivo panorama sul lago.

La vista panoramica è esaltata con un fronte completamente vetrato, con un ballatoio esterno che raccorda le varie zone, mentre dal lato ingresso risulta più scolpito con moduli distinti e privi di aperture.

Particolare attenzione è stata impiegata nell’uso dei materiali da costruzione privilegiando il legno, del quale la regione è particolarmente ricca, esternamente trattato con carbone assumendo una colorazione scura, mentre all’interno è lasciato naturale dando la sensazione di una casa nel bosco.

Anche il tetto è realizzato in legno con scandole, testimonianza di una lavorazione antica tipica anche di questi luoghi del sud del Cile, che gli conferisce una maggiore armonia con il paesaggio circostante.

Il risultato architettonico è un mix tra un granaio, come altri in queste zone, e una casa moderna che cura il rapporto esterno interno ricreando una osmosi naturale con l’ambiente.

Architects: Elton+Léniz arquitectos
Location: Lago Ranco, Chile
Architects: Mirene Elton, Mauricio Leniz
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 600 sqm
Photographs: Marcos Mendizabal

BOWOOSS BIONIC PAVILION

The School of Architecture at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, have lead a collaborative research project into bionic inspired wooden shell structures.

 

 

They have designed and built a temporary pavilion, inspired by the material-efficient construction methods found in nature.

 

 

The shell-like structure is called Bowooss, which, roughly translated, stands for “bionic optimized wood shells with sustainability”. The pavilion’s perforated design resembles a bug’s shell or oval-shaped beehive.

 

 

Although it’s more open than enclosed, the structure demonstrates both remarkable strength and portability.

 

 

The unique pattern used to construct this pavilion lets in natural light from every angle, while still providing lightweight, sustainable shelter.

 

 

It’s easy to imagine how, if strategically covered with some sort of insulating material, such a criss-crossed design could be used to build affordable residences for low-impact home enthusiasts.