Thinking Outside the (White) Box: 8 Sculptural Designs for Cultural Spaces
Celebrate a Decade of Inspirational Design with us! Architizer’s 10th Annual A+Awards program launches this fall — sign up to receive key program updatesand deadline reminders.
Amorphous white silhouettes are on the rise in architectural projects around the world. Their minimal nature stands in stark contrast with the grandeur that their form exudes. Parametric design applications and technologies like 3D printing have made the visualization of these spaces very easy, allowing architects to experiment and play with forms like never before.
The following A+Award winners challenge conventional ideas to craft spaces that have a unique character, experience and visual appeal. These designs change the way we look at circulation and redefine how we see and use basic structural elements like walls and roofs. Projects in this collection not only serve as functional buildings but also as works of art.
Yinchuan Sunac City Exhibition Center by Arch-Age-Design (AAD), Yinchuan, China
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Commercial – Showrooms
Perched at the edge of Gedi Lake, this minimalist structure is shaped like a crescent moon with a roof that gradually slopes down towards the water. The roof is held up by perforated columns that create the illusion of it being suspended in the air. Glass walls along the inner circumference of the ring help users become one with nature.
Jiunvfneg Bubble Pool and Supporting Facilities on Mount Tai by line+, Tai’an, China
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Hospitality – Spa & Wellness
The bulbous column-free form of the structure is created using special curved steel keels. The overhanging roof with wide openings or glass panels below enables unhindered views of mountains and forests around it. The openings of each white shell are oriented in different directions to create privacy.
Images by Walter Mair
Lindt Home of Chocolate by Christ & Gantenbein, Kilchberg, Switzerland
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Commercial – Mixed Use
The structure allows for a mixed-used space that comprises an exhibition area, R&D facility, production plants, offices and recreational facilities. Its dominant feature is an open atrium with circular projections. A large golden chocolate fountain in the center stands out against the calm white interiors.
The Golden Horn Library by Aytac Architects, Istanbul, Turkey
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Institutional – Unbuilt Institutional
The conceptual design is formed to look like a floating Turkish carpet, while also referencing the seven hills of Istanbul. The curved roof is supported by columns that branch out at the top and ribs that go along the roof section. The profile gradually reduces in height to merge into the landscape while also acting as a platform to walk on.
Yanlord Central Lake by HWCD & TIANHUA, Taicang, China
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Office Building – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
The design for this structure draws inspiration from the ripples in water. Curved segments at different levels are put together to create a spiral form. The building also features large windows on the side to allow expansive views of the lake around it.
Flow by Kris Lin International Design, Chengdu, China
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Commercial – Showrooms
Staying true to its name, this exhibition space is composed of fluid lines that create and separate various functions. Curved white surfaces and a cleverly concealed staircase are favored over traditional walls to create better circulation and connectivity.
The Cloudscape of Haikou by MAD Architects, Haikou, China
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Detail – Architecture +Concrete
The nebulous shape of the library was built using fair-faced concrete. The form’s identity is further retained by concealing all the mechanical, engineering and plumbing features within the surfaces. Its sculptural nature creates unique spatial experiences in every nook within.
Celebrate a Decade of Inspirational Design with us! Architizer’s 10th Annual A+Awards program launches this fall — sign up to receive key program updatesand deadline reminders.
The post Thinking Outside the (White) Box: 8 Sculptural Designs for Cultural Spaces appeared first on Journal.
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Technical Details: An Architect’s Guide to Setting Out Brickwork
Emma Walshaw is the founder of First In Architecture and Detail Library, and has written a number of books aiming to facilitate a better understanding of construction and detailing. The Detail Library provides architects with a database of fully resolved construction details.
Brick is one of the most common materials used in architecture. It’s inexpensive, durable and versatile. The way brick is detailed and set out can transform the way a building looks. Here we will explore simple techniques to make sure your brickwork is always set out perfectly.
Setting Out Stretcher Bond Brickwork
Stretcher bond brickwork is one of the most common bonds used in modern buildings. When designing these masonry walls, the designer should set out openings, window and door dimensions to full or half brick lengths where possible. This will avoid wasting material and the unnecessary cutting of bricks on site whilst making the wall as structurally stable as possible.
The following illustrations demonstrate the difference between using the correct coordinating, and using an uncoordinated approach. 
The image above shows how when not co-ordinated correctly you can be left with cut bricks and poorly finished openings. All the grey bricks in the example above represent bricks that are neither whole or half bricks and would have to be cut to size on site.
The above image shows co-ordinated brick sizing to ensure all openings align to 1 or 1/2 brick size.
In early design stages, brick dimensions are often not considered, leaving the complete external envelope needing to be re-adjusted or re-drawn at detailed design stage. However, setting out the building to brick dimensions as early as possible — even before planning — can save time and money!
Brick Dimension Tables
There is plenty of help out there to assist in setting out your façade to brick dimensions so that you don’t need to draw each brick in the façade (although it is always a good option to have a couple of courses on a hidden layer in your drawing to double check). Ibstock’s Brick Dimension Table and the Brick Association’s Dimension Table are the most popular.
Below is a short guide on how to use all these numbers.
Note: for large areas of brickwork, a movement joint will be needed every 10 – 12m or as recommended by the structural engineer.
Setting Out Flemish Bond Brickwork
For other types of bonds, different techniques and measurements have to be applied to set out brickwork correctly. Another very common type of bond is Flemish Bond.
Whilst Flemish walls must also try to maintain as many whole bricks as possible when being set out, when creating corners or openings, ¾ bricks and closer bricks may need to be used.
Traditionally these types of walls were one brick length deep and require a queen closer or king closer at corners even out the brickwork whilst maintaining a structurally strong wall. Below is an example of a section of wall showing a brick return, end of wall and internal wall junction along with the queen closers where necessary. Other forms of Flemish bond setting out exist depending on the desired elevation required.
Flemish bond walls can also be built out of single-leaf brickwork (half brick thickness), although this does require different types of cut bricks and possible extra wall ties as advised by the structural engineer. Below is an example of a section of wall showing a brick return, end of wall and internal wall junction.
Conclusion
The setting out of brick is an important part of the design process and will guide the dimensions of walls, windows, doors and other features on a building’s elevation. Setting out varies according to the different bonds and patterns used in the brick work. The more complicated the brick pattern or arrangement, usually the more complicated the setting out. There are plenty of guides available some of which listed below.
Emma Walshaw is the founder of First In Architecture and Detail Library, and has written a number of books aiming to facilitate a better understanding of construction and detailing. The Detail Library provides architects with a database of fully resolved construction details.
Useful Information
https://www.brick.org.uk/technical/guides
https://www.brick.org.uk/admin/resources/designing-to-brickwork-dimensions.pdf
https://www.brick.org.uk/technical/design-details
https://www.brick.org.uk/technical/structural-brickwork
https://www.brick.org.uk/technical/brick-calculator
https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/technical-services-technical-information/
https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TIS-A2-BRICKWORK-DIMENSIONS-TABLES-STANDARD-BRICK.pdf
https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ibstock-TIS-A2-BRICKWORK-DIMENSION-TABLES-Standard-brick-sizes.pdf
Top image: House of Bricks by Jolson, Melbourne, Australia
Celebrate a Decade of Inspirational Design with us! Architizer’s 10th Annual A+Awards program launches this fall — sign up to receive key program updatesand deadline reminders.
The post Technical Details: An Architect’s Guide to Setting Out Brickwork appeared first on Journal.
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Imatra Electricity Substation // Virkkunen & Co Architects
Project Status: BuiltYear: 2020Size: 5000 sqft – 10,000 sqft
Text description provided by the architects.
The project is composed of an electricity substation building and five transmission towers and terminals, extending over two tributaries of the river Vuoksi in the city of Imatra in Eastern Finland. The design and development of the new facilities required special care due to their proximity to the Imatrankoski rapids, a conservation site, and a national landscape as decreed by the Ministry of the Environment.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Max Plunger
The rapids were harnessed for power generation in the 1920s when the Imatra hydropower plant was constructed, and the river was directed into a power plant canal. The plant is still in operation and with an output of 192 MW, the most powerful of its kind in Finland. Simultaneously with the construction of the power plant, a 110 kV power line leading from the plant to consumption areas in Southern Finland was built.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Max Plunger
This landmark industrial site is the historical starting point of the Finnish main power grid.The hydropower plant buildings represent the Nordic Classicist style, and they were designed by architects Oiva and Kauno Kallio. The outstanding feature of their red brick-clad facades is the rhythmic arrangement of window bays and doors.
© Max Plunger
© Tuomas Kivinen
Rhythm also became the main feature of the new substation facades and powerline structures. The old air-insulated switchgear, completed in 1929, was coming to the end of its operational life cycle and had to be replaced with gas-insulated switchgear housed in a new substation building. New powerline structures replaced old lattice-type towers to the east and west of the new substation.
© Max Plunger
© Tuomas Kivinen
The substation site is an accessible part of the surrounding city, as it is not shut off from it by fences. Besides the location of the new powerlines, the scale and coordinates of the old hydropower plant buildings were primary factors in the positioning and layout of the new substation building.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Max Plunger
The lower floor of the substation is set underground to make the building as low as the nearest section of the old power plant. The design of the new transmission structures also seeks balance with the surrounding built and natural landscape. Except for one tall tower, they are lower in height than the surrounding treetops.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Tuomas Kivinen
The new substation building has a concrete frame and double-skin facades. The outermost facade layer consists of hand-made long bricks laid in a zigzag profile, a motif which the building shares with the triangular steel profiles of the new powerline towers and terminals. The top of the masonry wall consists of a porous lattice pattern that lets light and air pass through.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Tuomas Kivinen
The inner layer of the double facade consists of in-situ and prefabricated concrete walls cut by a continuous strip window set behind the brick lattice.
Inside the building, the main process equipment room and the lobby receive natural light via the clerestory window strip through which the brick lattice of the double facade can be seen.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Tuomas Kivinen
The interior is defined by the structural logic, detailing and materiality of the exposed, prefabricated concrete parts.
The project features three types of transmission structures: a tall tower with vertically arranged cross-arms, two low pylons with a horizontal configuration of cross-arms, and two terminals that connect overhead lines with underground cables.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Tuomas Kivinen
They are architectural in form and similar in structural principles but different in functions. The structures consist of prefabricated sections of triangular steel profiles in repetitive configurations. The different parts of the project are spread over a large area, and the main design challenge was to form a coherent whole that fits in the setting.
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Tuomas Kivinen
The design breaks apart aspects of the built context and reassembles them in a new abstracted form. The derived design language gives a unified identity to the new project and places it in the context..
© Tuomas Kivinen
© Tuomas Kivinen
Imatra Electricity Substation Gallery
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