lunes, 12 de marzo de 2012

MPA Building / Lousinha Arquitectos

12 Marzo 2012
© Luís Ferreira Alves

The project is implanted on a ground with a total area of 1364 m2 and takes place in the old industrial zone of Porto, which is now being regenerated, by using the land for activities related to enterprises, replacing the previous industries. The land-use planning classifies the ground as a zone of “ … progressive settlement of enterprises representative of different business areas and those that develop investigation and innovation in order to promote the city competitiveness and its role in the region, as well as complementary uses such as dwelling, services, commerce, equipments and hotels, tourist enterprises and restaurants”. Making part of this process of regeneration, the building is implanted perpendicularly to Manuel Pinto de Azevedo (MPA) Street.
 
© Luís Ferreira Alves

The project respects the planning, as it is inserted in a lot object of division. The southwest façade defines a new square opened to Manuel Pinto de Azevedo Street. It looks for dialogue with this public space, designing a front marked by the relation of the entrances and shops with this “square”. This idea is reinforced by the fact the building closes itself in the small front of the street. Formally restrained, the built volume wants to show two moments: the contact with the ground, very clear (transparent), in glass, where all opaque plans are covered with steel plates; and the relation with the more opaque horizon line, where the alternation of the openings introduces tension in the drawing of the elevations.

The superior floors will be overlaid with thin plaster applied on thermal insulation – thermal insulation composite system. By being protected by exterior awnings of the same color of the plaster, the openings contribute, in these floors, to a dynamic relation of the façade, which therefore can have multiple combinations. These materials, steel and thin plaster of a dark color, remind the industrial past of the zone. The reference to the industrial past of the place has always been present in our options concerning the design and the materialization of the building. 
© Luís Ferreira Alves

The building, of mixed use, shelters a school and offices. In order to allow autonomy of uses, two columns of vertical communications serve each of the programs independently. On the ground floor, a “front” of commerce turns to a broad square in the northwest. In this front, two shops with public access by the exterior of the building – a cafeteria and a stationery centre – work associated with the school program.

The school has a door on the southwest façade, near Manuel Pinto de Azevedo Street. This program takes place on five floors: ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor and half of the fourth floor. On the ground floor there is the reception and a foyer supporting the auditorium with 200 seats. The entrance of the school is through a space with triple ceiling height, marked by a staircase that besides the function of a strolling way assumes a sculpture character. The first floor is constituted by the school office, the library and six classrooms.
3rd floor plan

The next two floors have seven classrooms each, the library – which is organized in two floors – occupies part of the second floor and the staff room is located on the third floor. On the fourth floor, there are two classrooms and the Head Office. The interior corridor, naturally illuminated, is broad enough to allow other uses besides distribution. Flexibility in the use of the classrooms was a main concern in the whole process of conceptualization. Therefore is presented a solution that makes possible, either on the first floor or on the second or the third floors, create a unique space by joining four or five classrooms from the southeast wing. The northeast entrance will allow the distribution to the offices that occupy half of the fourth floor and the whole fifth and sixth floors.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

http://www.archdaily.com/215469/mpa-building-lousinha-arquitectos/


Head Offices Of CMT / Batlle & Roig Architects

12 Marzo 2012
 Courtesy of Batlle & Roig Architects

Like the INTERFACE building, the building for the Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT) is situated in the 22@ district. In this case, the building forms part of a complex, 22@ Business Park, developed by Grupo Castellví and containing a large business complex of over 41,000 m2 of offices and hotels, delimited by four streets: Bolivia, Ciutat de Granada, Sancho d’Àvila and Badajoz. Also set in this sector is one of the factories of the old Can Tiana textile mill, built in 1906 to a project by Guiteras and listed in the Special Protection Plan for the Industrial Heritage of Poblenou.

 Courtesy of Batlle & Roig Architects

The CMT building stands on a long, narrow site that presents its main façade to Carrer Bolivia and is delimited to either side by a passage. One of the old Can Tiana factory buildings stands at the centre of the site, and the project sets out to recover and incorporate it into the CMT’s functional programme. The main volume comprises three basement floors for car parking and eleven floors above grade with offices and services.
 Courtesy of Batlle & Roig Architects

The ground floor, providing the function of access and entrance, connects with the old mill building, the original structure of which is conserved as an auditorium with capacity for 330 persons, a large meeting room and services for CMT employees. The roof of the mill was adapted for use and connects with the first floor. The main volume, containing the offices, is organized around a central nucleus of entrances and services, and the workstations are laid out around it, making full use of the spatial freedom enjoyed by a building that opens out on all four sides.

Courtesy of Batlle & Roig Architects

This allowed us to explore a volumetric formalization that sets the building apart from its surroundings, highlighting its lengthwise asymmetry and increasing its height in relation to the axis of the street. This formal freedom produces a singular form, faceting the faces of the building and moulding it as a unique, recognisable piece that finds its reason for being in an innovative relation between exterior and interior. The variation and superposition of exterior spaces and workspaces serve to direct the volume towards the old factory and establish a subtle, utilitarian relation.

detailed elevation

The distant presence of the sea and a south-facing orientation determine the correct position of the terraces. The decision to bring a unitary treatment to the building’s outer appearance led us to protect its façade using a horizontal slat system throughout its volume that continues over the old factory, connecting the two. The slats serve to cover the upper terraces and installations, and form an awning at the ground floor entrance.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 http://www.archdaily.com/214040/head-offices-of-cmt-batlle-roig-architects/

National Library of Public Information / J. J. Pan & Partners

12 marzo 2012
Courtesy of J. J. Pan & Partners

Situated in the middle of the island of Taiwan, the National Library of Public Information occupies a site that is both geographically and metaphorically the confluence of information exploration and urban evolution. The striking form of the building features a “horizontal flow” theme recalling the early irrigation canals in the city’s settlement since the 18th century, as well as symbolizing the fluid data interface in the internet age.

Courtesy of J. J. Pan & Partners

Architecturally, the project is strongly rooted in the canons of modern architecture such as Le Corbusier’s Five Points of Modern Architecture; but also addresses conceptual questions such as how the library is to survive or even thrive in the digital age. In fact, the genesis of the design is the decision to directly confront the challenges and opportunities presented by the dynamic nature of digital media.
 
Courtesy of J. J. Pan & Partners

The resulting fluid building form and ever-changing spatial movement are manifested in the protruding volume of the conference center, the grand steps connecting the plaza and the L shaped buildings embracing a landscaped court. Akin to how the Five Points challenged the conventional design and construction practices of the time, the library tested the limits of design and construction in Taiwan. To achieve the building’s free-formed skin with its curved planes and organic tree trunk-shaped columns, the latest 3D design software and quite a few on-site mock-ups were utilized.

1st floor plan

In the end, a composite wall system with integrated insulation molds the folding surfaces, which are cladded with pearl-white round mosaic tiles of eight different sizes enabling the skin to achieve a monocoque appearance. In the interior, each floor from level one for five, takes its visual design cue from the corresponding outside view – people, trunk, canopy, the city skyline, and clouds respectively.
2nd floor plan

The landscape design features a moon-gazing berm with a multitude of native plants and low-maintenance wind resistant shrubs. Founded on the balance between cultural, technical and indigenous uniqueness, the design of the National Library of Public Information has established a new model for future civic projects in Taiwan.

http://www.archdaily.com/215527/national-library-of-public-information-j-j-pan-partners/