Project Status: BuiltYear: 2020

Text description provided by the architects.

Prized for its brutalist architecture by Victor Prus and historic mural by Jordi Bonet, the fragile Grand Théâtre de Québec, inaugurated in 1970, required a major intervention to restore and protect its outer shell. Prefabricated concrete indoor and outdoor walls are the theatre’s defining feature; their anchors had disintegrated over time due to moisture seeping into the concrete.

© Lemay

© Lemay

Nearly 60% of the interior is covered by the Bonet mural.The concrete icon reflects the end of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, and its mural is one of the largest in the world. The fragility of the work and the inability to directly access the concrete anchors required a radical solution to protect this heritage treasure.

© Lemay

© Lemay

Lemay + Atelier 21’s innovative glass casing is a delicate response to this complex problem. The start of the refurbishment project required consideration of its two defining components: the architecture of Prus and the monumental work of Bonet. The proposed intervention was meant to be a holistic reflection based on an interpretation, a transposition of these entities into a work depicting finesse.

© Lemay

© Lemay

The opposing elements were intentional: the new outer shell fades, disappears, reflects, illuminates. It articulates the project discreetly and sensitively. Beyond its primary function, the casing acts as an extension of the original building it now protects, using Prus’ finely developed structural logic and composition, married to the building’s unusual shape.

© Lemay

© Lemay

The glass can appear solid or immaterial depending on the light, sometimes blurring the boundaries of the building. In turn, it protects the building from the weather mainly by creating a tempered envelope, while a low-flow heat recovery and thermal mass system provides an energy-efficient and economical solution.

The glass casing is amplified according to the morphology of the Grand théâtre; it twists at the corners, it lifts at the base, it fades, leaving the concrete work intact and perfectly visible.

© Lemay

© Lemay

It keeps the continuity of the design storyline developed by Prus, while the beautiful Octave-Crémazie Hall highlights the work of Bonet, enshrined by Prus’ protective outer shell now enhanced by a thin wall of immaterial and protective glass. It has become the main interface with the City, true to its theatrical pedigree: a new act in the discovery of Quebec culture.Consortium : Lemay & Atelier 21Engineering: WSPGeneral Contractor: PomerleauGlass and fixture design engineering: ELEMA experts-conseilsExperts in materials engineering: SIMCOSteel Structure : Métal-PrestoGlass Manufacturer : Vitrerie LabergeLighting designers : Lemay & Atelier 21, Guy Simard and Lumenpulse.

© Lemay

© Lemay

Grand Théatre de Québec Gallery

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Every day we are bombarded with news, data and stories. Social media and smart technologies have facilitated an unprecedented barrage of dialogue informing us on the turbulent happenings from around the globe. For the most part, being informed is useful and developmental; it can help to facilitate change, or to breed empathy by allowing us to understand the plight of others. However, increasingly, the inescapable immersion in a spiralling news cycle is increasingly overwhelming. A mainstay on the top spot of our feeds, the never-ending stream of bad news seems to outstrip positive, engulfing us in pessimism.

As global communities navigate ongoing health and environmental crises, the ability for architecture to spark joy and raise spirits has never been more vital. For this reason, we’re introducing a brand new category for the 10th edition of Architizer’s annual A+Awards program: Architecture +Joy. Open Projects of all typologies, this category celebrates projects that bring joy to their users, whether it be through form, color, program and social impact.

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Architects are problem solvers by trade, and although it is unlikely that architecture will solve all of the world’s problems, designers hold a unique position in society; their work has the ability to influence and affect. The way human beings think, feel and conduct ourselves can be hugely impacted by the environment we find ourselves in.

EKH Children Hospital by IF (Integrated Field co.,ltd), Thailand
Jury Winner, 2020 A+Awards, Hospitality – Healthcare & Wellness

The pandemic has generated many studies that establish the impact of humans’ environmental surroundings on our general well-being. With all the research conducted, our understanding of how spaces make us feel has become more nuanced.

The beauty of architecture is that it can influence us on multiple levels — the way we move from place to place, the impact of a building’s façade as we walk by, how the acoustics in a room can make us calm or anxious or, on a much broader scale, the way we adore or dislike a whole a city due to our upbringing as children. This study of the inter-relationship between humans and their surroundings — of how the body and brain respond to and shape the built environment — is vast and informative. If we learn to harness this potential, there is an opportunity to bring more positivity to the world.

Amagerforbrændingen Waste to Energy Plant by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Copenhagen, Denmark
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2019 A+Awards, Concepts Plus Architecture – Architecture +Photography & Video
Popular Choice, 2020 A+Awards, Commercial – Factories & Warehouses

User-focused architecture isn’t a trend, style, or a methodology. It is a solution-based approach that can be used to optimize the relationship between people and the building around them. With that in mind, how can architects use their platform to create positive spaces that ensure our surroundings lift us emotionally when everything seems bleak?

There is no universal reaction to a singular space, so a one-size-fits-all approach to user-focused architecture is not the answer. As the name suggests, architects must consider the demographic alongside the local area to establish how a building can improve the lives of the people who will inhabit the space. It is not solely aesthetics but how and space comes into being and how it functions during its lifespan that can bring positivity and joy to its environment.

Amos Rex Museum by JKMM Architects, Helsinki, Finland

Amos Rex museum in Helsinki is a subterranean museum that has gained international popularity since its opening in 2018. Primarily a city center museum, the public space hosts numerous exhibitions and shows much like a typical city center museum. However, JKMM architects took the opportunity to develop the urban landscape with their proposal. Built with large concrete domes that contain the skylights for the galleries below, the architects formed the domes at street level to create a playful urban park and transitional space.

By simply considering how their project could impact the broader audience of the whole community, they have not only created a unique museum but have also changed how people use the land above. Social interaction and fun reverberate throughout the area that was once passive and unmemorable.

Presence in Hormuz by ZAV Architects, Hormuz, Iran
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Concepts – Architecture +Color

Equally, by considering the societal and economic situation of where a project is to be built, architects can personally impact the lives of individuals in the area. Hormuz is a historic port in the Persian Gulf in Iran. Colorful and surreal landscapes surround the island, yet the local inhabitants struggle economically.

Presence in Hormuz is a series of touristic developments envisioned to empower the island’s local community. The architects chose to not only add to the visual landscape but to support the local economy and tradespeople. Built-up of numerous domes — a shape familiar to locals — the project used traditional techniques and materials that did not require importation from elsewhere. Additionally, they earmarked far more of their budget to pay laborers than for buying materials. This money can then filter back into the society to benefit all the Iranians of the area.

Architecture can be used as a tool to bring joy and improve life. It is an opportunity to understand the needs of a branch of society. It must move beyond the aesthetic and delve deeper to find and deliver greater joy in its construction and its being. In doing so, a thoughtful design is able to bring people together and to spark a little more joy in the lives of those visiting or living alongside the design.

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Do you have a project that brings joy to its users, whether it be through form, color, program and social impact? Consider entering the brand new Architecture +Joy category in Architizer’s 10th Annual A+Awards. 

The post How Can Architecture Be an Antidote for this Turbulent Era? appeared first on Journal.

Project Status: BuiltYear: 2021Size: 100,000 sqft – 300,000 sqft

Text description provided by the architects.

Cboe’s dynamic new 185,000 SF HQ located in the historic Chicago Old Post Office is an energetic workplace occupying four floors within two unique buildings with world-class features and amenities. The vibrant environment reflects Cboe’s dynamic culture and is infused with commissioned artwork, unique branding, custom furniture, screens and lighting to enrich the experience.The striking ceiling element truly makes the space come alive.

© CannonDesign

© CannonDesign

It delivers on a theme of movement as a reflection and expression of Cboe’s ever vigorous business. The design element distinguishes itself in numerous ways, including:Momentum: The major ceiling element speaks to momentum, depicting the dynamic trajectory of Cboe’s business. This expansive sculptural element begins quietly within the elevator lobby with recessed floor lighting, reaching upward and stretching beyond reception as a 140ft canopy reflecting the city beyond and with embedded tickers bringing the markets to life.

Reflective and Energized: The element uses a reflective material to draw the panoramic city skyline and daylight deep into the space.

© CannonDesign

© CannonDesign

Integrated and kinetic scrolling tickers translate the company’s immersively energetic business. Along the horizontal expanse above the white ceiling canopy another ticker spans the entire length engaging those on the adjacent mezzanine, effectively connecting everyone at any angle.Sharp angles cut through the element with shards of light reflecting the often volatile market activity inherent within options trading.Bronze screens that depict market movement filter light and views throughout.Beyond serving as a sculptural storytelling element, the piece also has acoustical properties and visually disguises significant ductwork and infrastructure above, adding to the overall environmental quality of the space..

© CannonDesign

© CannonDesign

Cboe Global Markets Headquarters Gallery

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As the sea-level rises, increasing population and diminishing flatlands pose the following conundrum: How can humanity accommodate more people with limited lands? This is quickly becoming an essential and typical urban problem for architects, developers and local government. High-rise buildings have long been seen as a problem-solver capable of vertically expanding the limitations of a small site footprint in order to provide more residential and working spaces in cities. The future city, according to the booming trends of building up, might be a skyscraper forest.

Such scenes have already been depicted in many architects’ futuristic urban designs. However, as super-high-rise office buildings in central business districts compete for the top height — in many parts of the work, to accommodate more companies or satisfy certain business demands — the question worth asking: should residential buildings also compete to be the tallest and skinniest one? In recent years, New York has been a testing ground for the answer to this question.

Just as some skyscrapers advertise the privilege of working beyond the clouds, more and more developers are aspiring to satisfy the desires of the world’s elite to flex their wealth and status by promising them a home up in the air. No longer dedicated to solving the housing problems for dense populations, architects who undertake these projects guarantee buyers the best view of the cityscape (for those on the upper floors), while also maximizing the profits of the developer by reaching taller and taller. As these residential towers grow taller, they become attenuated. No longer designed to solve urban problems, are these structures destined to become problematic in and of themselves?

Image by The Skyscraper Museum

Millions of Dollars for Living in the Sky: Is It Even Worth It?

The burgeoning legal saga of 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York indicates that the unsolved technical problems in the super-high-rise residential buildings, such as flooding pipes, unstable elevator services and constant noises caused by structural components, are more than inconvenient; they could become life-threatening to their residents. For those who haven’t followed the coverage, residents in this building were caged for hours due to the unstable elevator services on multiple occasions.

The 425-meter-tall residential tower, which includes 125 living units whose price ranges from some 5 million dollars to over 100 million dollars, is supposed to offer privileged living experiences. Unfortunately, apart from the house price, residents in 432 Park Avenue have now had to spend extra money hiring engineering consultants and lawyers in order to fight for the comfortable and safe domestic living that they say that they paid for. So far, more than 1,500 construction and design defects were identified as “life safety issues” by the engineering consultant. In September 2021, residents sued the building’s developers based on the engineering report.

As architects, we know that a part of the reasons for the high price is that these foreseeable technical problems on super skinny towers are difficult and costly to tackle — or to ever fully solve. For example, the elevators, a necessity of skyscrapers, are highly likely to malfunction due to possibility of uneven force distributions among elevator cables, especially when buildings sway severely during windy days. Additional problems include drastically difficult emergency evacuation, undesirable stack effect and noises caused by air friction in deep elevator shafts, extra efforts to set up and maintain water and electricity supply for the whole building, etc.

Sometimes, even though all technical issues are predicted and thoroughly considered, any small mistake in the building’s design, construction or maintenance could still trigger the above problems. The question requiring reflection becomes: Should we, as architects, stop designing and pursuing the skinniest and tallest buildings, as we wait to be sure that these technical issues can be well handled?

The conceptual project Planet City that tackles future urban problems by Liam Young, image via Worldarchitecture.

Should We Stop Building Skinny Skyscrapers for Good?

Before answering the question, let us ask another question: what is so attractive about living in the sky? The answer might be the ‘unblocked’ views. In cities with high-rise jungles, views from lower floors are rarely that desirable. Unblocked vistas that fly over lower buildings’ roofs — as well as the distant coasts or mountains — therefore become a privilege and a scarce resource. Living in an upper-floor home, therefore, is closely engaged with the richest and most powerful “1%” of the society.

As Adrian Forty wrote in his book Objects of Desire, “…design tells people what they ought to think about the home and how they ought to behave there.” Design has the power to influence people’s behavior; yet, disrupting the chain of supply-demand is only possible if designers are joined by managers/developers, customers and local governments. At present, this truly seems like a pipe dream.

While there is still a need to explore more economical and practical ways for solving technical issues of super-high-rise residential buildings, are these skinny residential buildings the only way to respond to the demands of “unblocked view”? As architects, at least until there are engineering breakthroughs for these issues, should we stop the fashion of building taller and skinnier skyscrapers for residential uses? Could we, by employing other technologies such as vertical gardens, holograms and virtual/augmented reality, come up with other ways to approach domestic sight enjoyment without sacrificing residents’ safety and convenience? Hopefully, decades or centuries later, when skinny skyscrapers are no longer rare and expensive, there will be one day that these towers are built for the general welfare.

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

The post The Skinny on Supertall Skyscrapers: Problem-Solving or Problematic? appeared first on Journal.

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Project Status: BuiltYear: 2020Size: 25,000 sqft – 100,000 sqftBudget: 10K – 50K

Text description provided by the architects.

The Jennings creates safe, permanent, affordable housing for homeless domestic violence survivors and their families. It is owned and operated by New Destiny Housing, a non- profit organization dedicated to serving this population and which develops supportive housing to provide residents with the platform to live stable, violence- free lives.

© Alexander Gorlin Architects

© Eric Petschek

This project not only addresses the leading cause of homelessness in New York City – domestic violence – but also establishes a striking architectural statement on an intersection in The Bronx that was completely destroyed in the 1970’s.

The Jennings provides 42 affordable apartments ranging in size from one- to three- bedrooms.

© Eric Petschek

© Eric Petschek

Twenty-three are set aside for homeless domestic violence survivors. Tenant safety is of primary concern. Security features include electronic access- controlled entry, CCTV, video intercom and a manned security desk. On- site services for residents include counseling, case management, children and family programming, and job readiness coaching to foster housing stability and safety.

© Eric Petschek

© Eric Petschek

Amenities include a multi- purpose program space, staff offices, a library/computer room, secure landscaped courtyard with a children’s play area, and laundry room. The neighborhood is well- served by public transportation, critical for accessing employment opportunities, as well as daycare and after school programs that support parents and enable children to thrive.To keep costs down the project was designed with materials that were off the shelf/readily available, as well asenvironmentally sustainable.

© Eric Petschek

© Eric Petschek

Building systems such as block and plank were used to enhance the pace of construction. To lower long- term operational costs, we designed energy- efficient appliances and heating systems, as well as a green roof.In 1977, President Jimmy Carter visited this exact site to witness the destruction of the South Bronx (see final photo).

© Eric Petschek

© Eric Petschek

We are proud to be part of the meaningful renewal of this formerly devastated neighborhood..

© Eric Petschek

© Alexander Gorlin Architects

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