HERMA PARKING BUILDING BY JOHO ARCHITECTURE

"Parking lot either frankly reveals itself to be a parking lot without any consideration for design or surroundings, or disguises like a commercial facility. However, both cases are not welcomed in a city and ruin the city landscape.

Development districts of New Downtown in Korea that are fully filled with gigantic real estate goods only emphasize the legal maximum floor area ratio.

The city identity is represented by the wall-covering signs not the presence of space nor void. The massive box lumps clutter the city with the logic of capitalism that is composed of investment, lease and presale, rather than the respective regional characteristics.

This project intended to change the urban landscape through a proposition of a certain symbolically designed icon on a dry city.

In Korea for the development of a new town, developers parcel out the land in lots according to the usage such as a business area and a residence area, based on the Building codes.

Parking lot zone also gets placed in major site following the business and residence area zoning program. A plot for a parking lot can be planned with cheaper land price and eased regulations than a business area.

However, it has a restriction that the commercial facility-to-parking facility ratio has to be 2 to 8. After all, deriving the land cost and construction cost with very 20% commercial area is the poor reality of Parking lot construction in Korea.

This substandard business value causes the parking buildings to be built without any design concerns for lower construction price.

Furthermore, a vicious circle of gradually deteriorating surrounding urban environment continues because of the box-shaped boring parking buildings.

The Herma parking building was started from a fundamental consideration of current parking lots in Korea.

• Maximizing the potential commercial uses of the land
• Maximization of lawful commercial area, the possibility of using front terrace
• Composition of the parking ramp and the traffic line
• Increasing the architectural value through front-skin design 

 Description of architects. 

Architect: JOHO Architecture

Location: Yongin, South Korea

Completion: May, 2010

Award: 2010 Korea Young Architect Awards

Use: Parking Building (20% commercial area of GFA)

Site area: 853.7 sqm

Building area: 639.4 sqm

Gross Floor area: 2,554.29 sqm

Commercial area: 489.54 sqm (19.83% of GFA)

Parking area: 1979.09 sqm (80.17% of GFA)

Photo: Sun Namgoong, JeongHoon Lee

DALIAN LIBRARY AND MEDIA CENTRE BY 10 DESIGN

“In the competition, 10 is pleased to be able to compete with some of the world’s most high profile architects including Zaha Hadid Architects, Kengo Kuma and Associates, Hopkins Architects and AC Architects.

Although the decision on the commission of this project is yet to be announced, we are proud that the design has already gained recognition from a professional body, the AIA.

The library is intended to be a transformative environment that pulls visitors into a unique landscape.

The building weaves into the ground creating a series of courtyards and topographic undulations- rooting itself, and then sweeping up into the air forming a bold urban landmark.

The shifting of the mass creates spaces ranging from the intimate spaces for reflection in the courtyard to the dynamic and expansive views offered from the tower volume.

The tower volume has a series of internal voids and terraced spaces to further enhance the variety of spatial conditions and to provide internal connectivity.

A series of retail functions including cafes will help draw a larger audience to the library.

A large media center that shares the central drop-off can be used after hours and function independently.

The mass responds and is shaped by views into the site and outward to the surrounding sea and mountains.

A green hill over the media center forms an outdoor gathering space and amphitheater and will offer water views to the southern sea.

A roof top café on the tower volume provides panoramic views of the mountains and sea.

The façade of the library is a dark grey brass that will develop a beautiful patina over time.

The metal skin will have a natural resistance to the marine conditions and harsh weather.

The smaller voids in the buildings mass will use an anodized aluminum brass alloy to remain vibrant and colorful as the rest of the building transforms with time.” Description of 10 design

Jurors’ comments: “The jurors found this design engaging and dynamic. The central vortex was described as creating a focal area for an interesting series of spaces for the community. The building section illustrated for the jurors, the attention for both an urban and internal connectivity. The various adjoining spaces spiral inward in celebrating how the library can become a community center for the neighborhood.”

Location: Dalian, China

Client: Dalian Planning Bureau 

Architects: 10 Design

Design team: Ted Givens, Mohamad Ghamlouch, Emre Icdem, Judy Chan and Abraham Fung

Site area: 45,400 sqm

GFA: 55,400 sqm

Building Height & Nos of Floors: +39.00 m / 6F above ground, 2F below ground
Function: Library & Media Centre

image and information: 10 Design

YANDEX OFFICE II BY ZA BOR ARCHITECTS

“It is indicative that this office is to some extent a return to the roots of cooperation of za bor architects and the largest Russian IT-corporation Yandex*.

The first office developed for Yandex by za bor architects is in the same building of the Benois business center in Saint Petersburg, but on a lower floor. In 2008 it was a brilliant premiere published by almost all the leading architecture and design media in Russia. The project has picked up many awards.

Four years later za bor architects and Yandex had decided to repeat the success on a larger scale – Yandex Saint-Petersburg office II is almost twice as large as the previous one – it houses the entire fourth floor of the building and has a corridor about 200 meters long (total floor area 3310 sqm), but size doesn’t matter, clients wanted an «extraordinary office like no other».

So the architects had at least two challenges – first to organize a very complex space outstretched along a central corridor axis. The second challenge was to make the office a showy and impressive.

After a long thought  Peter Zaytsev, and Arseniy Borisenko, the project architects, decided to use the double loaded zoning, with meeting «cells», work areas, and unusual objects located along the corridor.

The unusual objects being provided with a particular function. As a result of this concept implementation, guests find themselves «inside» the Yandex  search service: at the reception they are met by a well-known «Search» button and a yellow arrow (an unofficial Yandex logo and a significant part of the web-site).

While passing the corridors they see the familiar user name and email password input boxes, and at each step they meet symbols and icons of Yandex services, although they are not always easy to recognize as tiny pixel icons, had turned into 3D objects.

The office guests receive a unique transcendental background, the one of which Aldous Huxley hadn’t even dreamed of. Visitors find themselves both in an amazing space which architects had transformed from linear into 3D, observing the pixel objects which grew to gigantic proportions.

Thus, according to the architects conception, guests and employees of the office are involved into Yandex net services, to which they are accustomed to work with exclusively in 2D screen.

That is why in some places miniature «icons», which grew to giant size are breaking to large volume «pixels» sprouting from the walls. Bright colors, spots scattered here and there, guide visitors through the office and cheering up the office staff.

Speaking of function, many of the major elements seem to be decorative only at first glance. The spiral elements for example are separating the informal communication zone from the corridor. The casted polymer «jellyfish» clocks contain network printers station, etc.

The project has turned out rather complex, the first thing because no one did such things before, not only in Saint Petersburg but even in Russia. Therefore, many solutions are made on the spot during on-site designer supervision.

The difficulties were not caused by 3D objects – they are made according to advertising designs technologies (their cages are filled with polystyrene foam, meeting all standards of fire and environmental safety). On the other hand – the ceiling, build up of original «blades» was extremely difficult to install.” Description of architects.

Yandex* is a Russian Internet company which operates the largest search engine in Russia with about 60% market share in that country. Yandex ranked as the 5th largest search engine worldwide with more than 150 million searches per day as of April 2012 and more than 25.5 millions of visitors (all company's services) daily as of May 2012. The company's mission is to provide answers on any questions users may have (explicit or implicit).

PUBLIC SERVICE HALL BY DE ARCHITEKTEN CIE

De Architekten Cie. and Lada Hršak from HL architecture won the competition for the Public Service Hall in Georgia.

The competition was held by The Ministry of Justice of Georgia and supports the countrywide reform for renewal of public services. Eight PSH's are (almost) realised and eight new ones are about to come.

The project proposes an elevated square being the roof of the building. The square connects the public space with the roof auditorium which becomes the new civic place for the city.

Municipal services housed under the coffered ceiling are arranged in a free plan. This space where 250 services can be obtained, is composed of five sectors - islands with the proposed two minute waiting time.

'Public Service Hall is the property of each and every citizen of Georgia'.

Photo / images: from de Architekten Cie.

ARCHIPELAGO PAVILION

Designed and built in collaboration between Chalmers University of Technology and Röhsska Museum of Design in Copenhagen, the Archipelago Pavilion is a network of seating structures that inhabits the cortyard in front of the Museum.

The structure provides shaded seating inside and creates shaded spaces around it to place existing chairs and tables. The structure was built on site by 33 architecture students.

The pavilion was parametrically designed in Grasshopper and Rhino and built from 2 mm thick laser-cut steel sheets.

Exactly 133 pieces of steel were joint together with 1535 joints with a total of 3640 bolts holding it together.

Inside the pavilion visitors can lie comfortably on the surface, thanks to the steel’s possibility to stay cool when shaded.

The intricate web of spaces resembles clusters of small islands in an archipelago. The perforation on the roof spreads out an organic pattern resembling the one you would see from a tree in the forest.

The Archipelago Pavilion was initially created for the purpose of the course, as an exploration of translating computer generated design into built architectural objects through digital fabrication.

After the summer the pavilion will be moved to the Chalmers University of Technology where it will stay during the autumn. After that, the Archipelago Pavilion will be for sale.

source: evolo