back to nature; constructed ruin

fantastic! urban reclamation project in tokyo.

a 'haunted' house is magically transformed through the power of design. once covered in ivy, the designer stripped the over-growth revealing the structural elements long left to the passage of time.

i admire the restraint - not to completely gut and start anew. the old structure and new surfaces are well-balanced; it helps to tell the story of the dwelling, not simply masking it behind clean white walls.

a quick overview and stream of consciousness ramble, but check out the whole story.

photos courtesy of takeshi yamagishi

THEVERYMANY

I officially started my internship last monday, and I have to say its been quite a work out. Aside from working 10-12 hours a day I'm still trying to find a time to do my laundry. Heres a link to show you all what is going on with theverymany and also who they are.

theverymany

For me its like going back into microcosm, a studio that dealt with prototyping, material studies, and digital fabrication techniques....well I'm getting all that and more.... I will post my plastic wall system up as soon as I get my apartment together.....

I might post a pic or two every now and then to give you a sneak peak since the chances of me photographing the work is high. But of course that is just a "maybe."

tolo house_ alvaro siza

álvaro leite siza vieira's tolo house (son of architect alvaro siza) is based in lugar das carvalhinhas, portugal. it’s a great work manipulating the hillside slope. the result is a superb layering of space based on rigorous, modular abstraction of cubic geometries. organized along a long linear spine the interconnected volumes reveal a unique elevation on each of its four sides.

the project include three bedrooms, a social bathroom, a living room, a dinning room, a small kitchen with a support washbasin, pantry, and even a small outdoor swimming pool. the outdoor patios, corresponding to the roofs of various levels, are connected through a pedestrian path bordering the lot.

the pragmatics of the site [steep topography] in concert with the economic constraints produced a partially buried house. enclosed with concrete provides high thermal barrier, while the revealing some cubes references the surrounding cliff faces. the plan layout attempts to preserve the pre-existing trees; hence the rotations in plan adapting to the natural morphology of the terrain…

you’d never even notice this house as you approach from car at the highest part on the north end of the project. a stone footpath provides access from the south, at the bottom of the hill: a more rustic option. additionally, the concrete spaces take advantage of the site’s southern exposure: receiving optimal southern exposure.

visual tension is created through the manipulation of concrete and wood. carving reveals light adding drama to the sculpted cubes cascading down the hillside. the material palette is simple, clean, and reserved: concrete, wood, white surfaces.

“the roof functions simultaneously as pavement support for the gardens: similar to the traditional threshing floors and patios in the northern regions of the country with hilly terrain.” its fragmentation only adds to its allure.

photos found @: fernando guerra

TO NYC: Peter's story.

Thursday, July 29th 2010.

I woke up late for work, in a panic I quickly got ready and drove to the office. Today was the day I fly out to meet Marc Fornes, and all I could think about is how exciting it would be to work with him. I finally get into the office around 8:30, my boss is already waiting to brief me on changes for our new project. I started immediately on the changes only to later run into horrible printer issues. Thinking to myself "God why! its already 12:30" fixing presentations was one thing... I still have two competitions to finish before 3!. 2 o'clock runs around, I start to panic. Everything has been pushed behind schedule and my plane leaves in a couple of hours. My co-worker is struggling to get his competition model finished and the bossman asks if I can stay behind...and disaster strikes. I have not told my boss before hand I was flying to NYC....

After a moment of silent had passed, and a few awkward statements were said I was on my way to finish packing for my flight! Riding quickly down the highway I thought to myself that was the worst of it! traffic all of a sudden slowed down to a screeching halt...

CRASH!!!!

I had gotten my self into an car accident....I thought to myself wow....it hasn't even been 3 weeks since i got into my last fender bender.. and twice I was rear ended and pushed into the car in front of me... I immediately get out and look at damages on both cars, the man in front gets out and yells at me "HEY, i have to get to work." I looked to the car behind, the windshield had blown off the car. I started walking towards the car and again the man yells out "HEY!, do you have some paper i can write my info down and leave." In that instance something in me snapped and I turned around and yelled "Stand there! Wait! and when i'm doing helping this person out of their car i will talk to you!" The door starts to open, and the women starts to get out. I helped her out and talked got our information straight and eventually left the scene.

Alex eventually comes to pick me up at my house, we had decided to take his car to the airport and drop it off there for the weekend. I tell him my situation and we have a hardly laugh about my misfortune...at that point I had made a terrible joke, "hey, Alex just watch our planes going to be delayed as well." We both laughed and went on our way to the gate. After sitting down for not even 5 mins we hear "for flight 508 leaving for Laguardia airport. Your flight will be delayed until 9:30 PM." Alex looks right at me, "Omg, peter....your just a troll today.." I laughed and told him to leave me alone, I already had a bad day.......

Heres an image of the Art museum designed by Sanaa.

I finally found a spot to put this.

2A_Em IN NYC!