Pretty Architecture

My lookbook dedicated to architecture and urban planning. A huge database full of inspiring blogs about architecture, design & spatial planning.

[prettyarchitecture]

Vertical Garden by  Paulina Kochanowicz

Paulina Kochanowicz is an Interior Architect and a graduate of Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (2011), She is also a founder and chief designer at Seryjny Projektant studio. They design architecture, interiors and products. They also run designing courses in Serial Designer Academy.

After several years in the profession, by curious coincidence she stumbled upon Blender software, which has accompanied her ever since. Making visualisations became Paulina’s true passion and invaluable complement to her profession.

Source: ronenbekerman.com

[prettyarchitecture]

Roberto Burle Marx

Burle Marx's most famed completed commission in the U.S. was Miami’s vast, mosaic-embedded Biscayne Boulevard (1988–2004).

The Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx (1909–1994) worked in a variety of artistic mediums, from painting and sculpture to graphic design and mosaics.

The designer often collaborated on projects with Modernist luminaries such as Oscar Niemeyer, as at the Cavanellas (now Gilberto Strunk) residence in Petrópolis, Brazil. Niemeyer’s grace- ful, low-slung villa is enhanced by Burle Marx’s lushly varied, polychromatic plantings.

Burle Marx’s first gardens, completed in the early 1930s, borrowed from French planning traditions while incorporating flora native to Brazil. The landscaping for the Ministry of Education and Health rooftop melded the latter tendency with a thoroughly modern sensibility.

Source: archdaily.com

[prettyarchitecture]

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel

A small concrete chapel built by local farmers on the edge of a field. Concrete is cast around a group of 120 tree trunks, cut at a local forest, and then slowly burned. The meticulous arrangement of the trees teardrop or leaf created the oculus that provides the only direct light to the small dark space.

The field chapel is dedicated to Swiss Saint Nicholas von der Flue (1417-1487), known as Brother Klaus. It was commissioned by farmer Hermann -Josef Scheidtweiler and his wife Trudel and largely constructed by them, with the help of friends and craftsmen on one of their fields above the village.

The Bruder Klaus Field Chapel began as a sketch that eventually evolved into a stylish point of reference while essential in the natural landscape of Germany. The design was done by local farmers who wanted to honor their patron saint, Bruder Klaus of the fifteenth century. " ... To me, buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self- evidence, durability, presence and integrity, and with warmth and sensuality, a building that is being itself, being a building, that does not represent anything, it's just ... "(Peter Zumthor )

Want to see more? Follow @prettyarchitecture

Architectect: Peter Zumthor Photographer: archiscapes

[prettyarchitecture]

Arne Quinze

Arne Quinze was born in 1971 in Belgium and lives and works in Sint- Martens-Latem, Belgium and Shanghai, China. In the eighties he began working as a graffiti artist but he never finished an official art education. Quinze creates large and small sculptures, drawings, paintings, and large- scale installations. Smaller works, sketches, and drawings are the basis and research for his large installations. Recurring fundamentals in his oeuvre are the use of multiple types of wood, including salvaged wood, metal and bronze, coloured glass, electrical colours in fluorescent paint, and themes referring to social interaction, communication and urbanism. Since a while he’s doing research towards large-scale steel installations.

A 85m long and 16m high wooden sculpture called “ The Passenger “ will occupy the Rue Nimy in the old city centre of Mons. The artist choose to build specifically in the Rue Nimy doesn’t come by coincidence. Arne Quinze’s first step always implies a detailed investigation of the cultural and demographic environment he works in.After clearly understanding the historical heritage; drawings, maquettes & engineering studies are effectuated. Determining the final form put into effectuation. “The Passenger” symbolises the flow of people and their cultural evolution occupying the Rue de Nimy’s since its origine in the 13th century. Functioning as the main entrance toward the Grand Place of Mons. One of the most important commercial trading center to the province of Hainaut during Middle Ages.With “The Passenger“ Arne Quinze focuses on the historical importance of Rue de Nimy. A cultural passage who influenced all layers of its society through the years. Boosting historie and memories, assessments and creativity during the next 4 years.  “The Passenger” will provoke reaction and intervene in the daily life of passersby. Pushing dialogue and open the debate on contemporary urbanisation.

[prettyarchitecture]

Rhike park

The project site is located inside the green area called Rhike Park, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The building consists of two different soft shaped elements that are connected as a unique body at the retaining wall. Every shapes has his own function: The Musical Theatre and the Exhibition Hall. 

The north part of the building contains the Musical Theatre Hall (566 seats), the foyer and several facilities, together with technical spaces for theatre machinery and various storages. The Exhibition Hall opens his great entrance with a ramp that brings visitors from the street level. The Music Theatre Hall, on the contrary, soars from the ground and allows the users staying in the foyer and in the cafeteria to have a view to the river and the skyline of the city. It is a periscope to the city and looks towards the river framing the historic core of the Old Tbilisi.

Want to see more? Follow @prettyarchitecture

Architectect: Fuksas Photographer: Nikolay Kaloshin

[prettyarchitecture]

Löyly

Hernesaari area is a former industrial area on the Helsinki sea shore that will be built into a residential area. New use is developed for the area already now while waiting for the future change. Traditional sauna is developed into an easy-going undulating building that is more part of the future coastal park than a conventional building. 

Interesting views open up to city centre and even to open sea between wooden lamellas. The whole building forms also an outdoor auditorium for the future marine sports centre's activities on the sea. Löyly offers foreign visitors a public all year round sauna experience - a must when visiting Finland.

Want to see more? Follow @prettyarchitecture​

Architect: Avanto Photographer:  Kuvio

[prettyarchitecture]

The Tbilisi Public Service Hall

The Tbilisi Public Service Hall is situated in the central area of the city and it overlooks the Kura river.

The building is made up of 7 volumes that contain offices (each volume is made up of 4 floors located on different levels). These volumes are placed around a "central public square", which is the core of the project,  where there is the front office services. Offices are connected to each other by internal footbridges that stretches on different levels.

Volumes and the central public space are towered above by 11 big "petals" that are independent both formally and structurally from the rest of the building. Three of those big petals covers the central space. The petals, different for their geometry and dimension, reaches almost 35 meters and they are supported by a structure of steel pillars with a tree shape, visible, as well as the petals, externally and internally from the building.

Among the petals, that are at different levels, are the glass facades. The main characteristic of these facades is that these have been released completely from the structure of the petals, allowing relative movements between the facade and the spatial network structure of coverage. This decision was taken to prevent that any movement of the cover, mainly due to oscillations for snow loads, wind or thermal expansion, can lead to the crisis of the glass.

Want more Architecture? follow @prettyarchitecture

Architect: Fuksas Photographer: Moreno Maggi

[prettyarchitecture]

SERIE: Top 5 green roofs worldwide

The City Hall rooftop garden

Chicago’s most famous rooftop garden sits atop City Hall, an 11-story office building in the Loop. First planted in 2000, the City Hall rooftop garden was conceived as a demonstration project - part of the City's Urban Heat Island Initiative - to test the benefits of green roofs and how they affect temperature and air quality. The garden consists of 20,000 plants of more than 150 species, including shrubs, vines and two trees. The plants were selected for their ability to thrive in the conditions on the roof, which is exposed to the sun and can be windy and arid. Most are prairie plants native to the Chicago region.

The rooftop garden mitigates the urban heat island effect by replacing what was a ballasted, black tar roof with green plants. The garden absorbs less heat from the sun than the tar roof, keeping City Hall cooler in summer and requiring less energy for air conditioning. The garden also absorbs and uses rain water. It can retain 75% of a 1 inch rainfall before there is stormwater runoff into the sewers.

Want to see more Architecture? Follow @prettyarchitecture

Architect: City of Chicago, Dept of Environment

[prettyarchitecture]

SERIE: Top 5 green roofs worldwide

USA: new California Academy of Sciences

The iconic new California Academy of Sciences building opened in September 2008 is the largest public LEED Platinum-rated building in the world and the world’s greenest museum. This commitment to sustainability extends to all facets of the facility – from the bike racks and rechargeable vehicle stations outside the building, to the radiant sub-floor heating inside and energy-generating solar panels on top of the building.

(Keep reading for the green numbers!)

The LEED program encourages and rewards architects who create innovative, imaginative energy saving solutions. Architect Renzo Piano achieved this in his design for the living roof. Not only does the green rooftop canopy visually connect the building to the park landscape, it also provides significant gains in heating and cooling efficiency. The 15cm-thick soil substrate on the roof act as natural insulation, and every year will keep approximately 14 million liters of rainwater from becoming storm water. The steep slopes of the roof also act as a natural ventilation system, funneling cool air into the open-air plaza on sunny days. The skylights perform as both ambient light sources and a cooling system, automatically opening on warm days to vent hot air from the building.

Green numbers:

90% of all demolition materials were recycled

32,000 tons of sand from foundation excavation applied to dune restoration projects in San Francisco

95% of all steel from recycled sources

15% fly ash (a recycled coal by-product), 35% slag in concrete

50% of lumber harvested from sustainable-yield forests

68% of insulation comes from recycled blue jeans

90% of office space will have natural light and ventilation

60,000 photovoltaic cells; 213,000 kilowatt-hours

30% less energy consumption than federal code requirement

Want to see more photo’s? Surf to @prettyarchitecture​

Source: Calacademy,  Lafargeholcim foundation

[prettyarchitecture]

SERIE: Top 5 green roofs worldwide

USA: The Gary Comer Youth Center

This youth center, located in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, provides a constructive environment for area youths to spend their after-school hours.

The roof garden, with 24 inches of soil, serves as outdoor classroom to supports youth horticultural programs; food plants are grown, harvested and used in culinary arts classes that take place in the building’s teaching kitchen. 

Skylights dot this rooftop landscape to bring natural daylight into the gym and cafeteria below. The garden collects and recycles rainwater, and serves to reduce the urban heat island effect in a way that reinforces the educational mission of the youth center.

On the exterior, a rainscreen cladding system of brightly colored fiber cement panels reference the brightly-colored flags and uniforms of the drill team, and speak to the center’s youthful orientation. The cement board panels are arranged in a random pattern to allow for panels to be replaced over time in response to damage or vandalism, without drawing attention to replacement. An 80-foot tall mesh tower surmounted by an LED sign announces programs and events, serving as a visual marker for the community.

Want to see more photo’s? Surf to @prettyarchitecture

Source: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing, Chris Lake

[prettyarchitecture]

SERIE: Top 5 green roofs worldwide

Netherlands: The DakAkker

On top of the Schieblock officebuilding in the center of Rotterdam the largest rooftopfarm in Europe is situated: “the DakAkker”. Here fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown and honey bees are kept. The DakAkker functions as a testsite to experiment with different ways of greenroofs and farming in the city. The Dakakker was created in April 2012.

This project have gained much experience on how to grow crops on 20 meters, right in the center of Rotterdam. The growing conditions are similar to a Mediterranean climate: very dry and windy. Therefore, they grow many herbs (mint, lemon verbane, lavender), tubers (Jerusalem artichoke, beetroot, carrot, radish), allium vegetables (onion, leek, garlic) and strong plants like zucchini, rhubarb and pumpkin. In 2014 was started with various types of edible flowers. 

Besides the rooftopfarm a botanical garden has also been realized. This flowery herb-mixture creates and stimulates the biodiversity in the city centre environment.

Want to see more photo’s? Surf to @prettyarchitecture

Source: ZUS Rotterdam

[prettyarchitecture]

SERIE: Top 5 green roofs worldwide

Singapore: Reflections at Keppel Bay

At reflections at Keppel Bay, greenery is inserted at different elevated planes to complement the architecture of the villas and tower blocks and its waterfront location. The curved and sweeping towers rise out of the reflecting pool and culminate with green terraced crowns. 

Each pair of the six towers is connected by landscaped sky bridges on three separate floors. The skybridges on each tower pair are characterized by distinct geometric planters. (jigsaw, strip and oval) 

The tennis court, substations and bin centre at the ground level are aesthetically  covered with green walls and green roofs to create a verdant ambience. More than 1,600 trees and countless shrubs and groundcovers were used to create a distinctive green environment. 

Want to see more photo’s? Surf to @prettyarchitecture Source: Some photo’s made by Pretty Architecture, information from Vertical Garden City Singapore. 

[prettyarchitecture]

The Vieux Port pavilion

A polished steel canopy reflects visitors walking underneath at this events pavilion in Marseille’s harbour.

Supported by eight slender columns, the stainless-steel structure stretches over the paving to create a sheltered events space in the city’s Old Port. The roof features sharply tapered edges, creating the impression of a paper-like thickness.

The Vieux Port pavilion forms part of a masterplan of public realm projects that Foster + Partners has been working on along the seafront of the French city to tie in with its role as European Capital of Culture 2013. Other improvements includes new surfaces, wider pavements and a series of nautical pavilions.

Want to see more? Surf to @prettyarchitecture! Source: Fosterandpartners

[prettyarchitecture]

STUDENT HOUSING

Transformation of an office building in Amsterdam

The building is located in Amsterdam norht east in the district “Bos en Lommer”. The assignment concerns the design and execution of a transformation and renovation of an existing office building “Elsevier” into student housing. By destining the building as “accommodation for students” there is a possibility to anticipate on the enormous shortage of student housing.

The design is characterized by the ground and top floor which both will be used for business purposes. The main entrance for these business units is on the west facade. The floors are designed as student dwellings. Consisting both non-independent units and independent student units. The entrance of students is located on the public area on the east side. 

Want more Architecture? see @prettyarchitecture

Architect: knevelarchitecten Photographer: leonardfaustle

[prettyarchitecture]

Watercampus

Because the building is lifted, the landscape seems to run underneath. The first building layer opens on three prominent places and offers a view of the light interior. The undulating conduct of the wooden blinds that comprise the building completely, gives the building smooth, continuous and rounded forms, an almost liquid feel. This makes it recognizable as a figurehead of the Water Campus.

WaterCampus Leeuwarden plays an important role in training future water technologists and other water technology professionals. In fact, WaterCampus is increasingly becoming the European meeting point for water technology talent.

The WaterCampus offers room to starting entrepreneurs as well as already established businesses who wish to research and test their innovations and/or who want to progress the (further) development of new products.

Want to see more? Surf to @prettyarchitecture! Source: Gebouwvanhetjaar

[prettyarchitecture]

Schiecentrale 

Schiecentrale 4B consists of a spectacular new building that wraps around the north-western sides of the old Schiecentrale plant. Like a small city, the new complex offers a variety of housing types that cater for self-confidant people active in the creative industry and who are attracted to the harbour atmosphere that the area still breathes. The scale and size are in keeping with the metropolitan docklands context. The shape chosen for the slab means that every residential unit enjoys views of both the River Maas and the city of Rotterdam.

The most distinctive feature of the project is the height of the building, a 50-metre-tall slab that stretches for a length of 130 metres and rises above the former electricity power plant. The 11-floor structure contains office space and live-work units that are accessible from a gallery faced in a specially woven stainless-steel screen. Attached to the gallery are storage units, which are normally hidden away in the basement, but are now positioned opposite the front doors as eye-catching objects. All spaces on the west side of the building are fitted with glazed facades. From here, occupants enjoy a spectacular view of the River Nieuwe Maas and the port. Floor-to-ceiling harmonica doors front the live-work units and can open to turn the apartment into an enclosed and sunny terrace.

Want more Architecture? Follow @prettyarchitecture

Architect: mei-arch

[prettyarchitecture]

Lucent

The design focuses on the lobby as a clear, strong response to this brief. Here, a new atrium becomes the vibrant heart of the building that increases daylight and air into the deep building, improves quality of space and offers opportunities for interaction. The main intervention removes wall and floor in-fills between the concrete frame at the centre of the building. This opens up a spacious four-storey atrium that becomes the new social core around which shared functions are organized. This results in a dynamic atrium with overhanging balconies, walkways, vistas and voids, which is complemented by the interplay between open and closed sections of the exposed concrete structure.

For a company consolidating its offices for the first time, the move brings a new opportunity to review its values and identity. Through literally opening up the office, this establishes visual transparency to create a feeling of connectivity, which greatly benefits the development of (inter)personal relationships.

By physically sharing social spaces, staff from the various regional offices not only interact with each other socially and professionally, but also contribute to the new shared identity of the headquarters and company.

Want more Architecture? Follow @prettyarchitecture

Architect: studioninedots Photographer: Peter Cuypers