Folded Forms 3

Source: SOM-William Lukes AIA

USAFA Cadet Chapel, El Paso County, Colorado, USA, 1962 designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

In creating a monumental religious building, the design incorporated a monumental structure system. Seventeen rows of spires rise 150 feet high coming to seventeen points shooting towards the sky above, using repetition to enhance the powerful essence of each massive spire. These spires are used with a tubular steel frame of 100 identical tetrahedrons that make up the structure. The tetrahedrons are each 75 feet long and weigh five tons. They are enclosed with aluminum panels and spaced a foot apart. The gaps in between these tetrahedrons are filled with colored glass, reflecting the light of the chapel. -- ArchDaily

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Source: REUTERS/Carol Lawrence/U.S. Air Force photo/Files

An ominous cloud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire rises from the south behind the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel as cadets head for a briefing on evacuation procedures in Colorado Springs, Colorado in this June 27, 2012 photograph released on July 1, 2012. The Academy evacuated more than 600 families and 110 dormitory residents from the base the evening of June 27.

Source: Machado and Silvetti Arssociates

Scully Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1998 designed by Machado and Silvetti Arssociates

To the north, Scully Hall defines and reinforces College Walk, an important pedestrian pathway that connects the east and west campuses. Articulated as a more irregular volume, the dormitory conforms to the existing Princeton building fabric and defines more traditional residential courtyard spaces. On the southern edge along the playing fields, Scully Hall presents a more contemporary and larger scaled face. Upon completion of the entire master plan, this face will provide a memorable campus front, as well as a dramatic backdrop for the events that will take place in the elliptical fields. -- architect's web site

Source: Team Minus archdaily.com

Jinchang Cultural Centre Jinchang, Gansu, China, 2007 designed by Team Minus

The most distinctive feature of the design is the long passage along the main street in the south-west. With its alternating west-facing solid walls and south-facing glazed curtains, the facade is both reminiscent of the local mountain and efficient in utilizing sunshine to heat the inside. -- ArchDaily

Source: archdaily.com

Temporary chapel for the Deaconesses of St-Loup, Hôpital de St-Loup, Switzerland, 2008 designed by Localarchitecture

working in partnership with Hani Buri and Yves Weinand from the IBOIS laboratory at the EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), whose ongoing research into folded structures seemed particularly interesting and appropriate for this project. The team developed a structure using timber panels, which makes it possible to cover large areas with fine sections. The shape was generated using computer software that calculates the load-bearing structure, determines the dimensions and transmits this information to the machine that cuts out the 6-cm thick timber panels.  -- ArchDaily

Source: J. J. Pan & Partners

Neo Solar Power Corporation, Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, 2009 designed by J. J. Pan & Partners

The façade takes up the metaphor of transferring light energy to electric power with solar panels to achieve a uniqueness of the contour. The exterior walls are designed as a continuous wave of glass panels in the concept of “starting-folding-concluding“ to express the design ideas of “undulation, transference.” -- ArchDaily

Source: archrecord.construction.com

Pleats.M, Saitama prefecture, Japan designed byHironaka Ogawa & Associates

An oddly shaped plot located near a busy intersection in suburban Saitama prefecture hardly seems like the ideal spot for a wedding hall. But Pleats.M (above and opposite) aims to disprove that assumption. Draped with steel-supported, stuccolike walls creased as sharply as origami paper, the 16,146-square-foot building deftly shuts out its surroundings while embracing a nondenominational chapel, an event hall, and other spaces for newlyweds and their guests. -- Architectural Record

Source: Adam Mørk archdaily.com

Horten Headquarters, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009 designed by 3XN

A unique façade design was developed in order to set new standards within sustainable solutions. The three dimensional façade in fiberglass and travertine works as a screen against the sun while still providing a view to the water. In this way, the architecture itself is actually the main contributor to the energy savings of the building. -- ArchDaily

Source: Hawkeye Aerial Photography

Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Scotland, 2011 designed by Zaha Hadid Architects

The building would be a tunnel-like shed, which is open at opposite ends to the city and the Clyde. In doing so it becomes porous to its context on either side. However, the connection from one to the other is where the building diverts to create a journey away from the external context into the world of the exhibits. Here the interior path becomes a mediator between the city and the river which can either be hermetic or porous depending on the exhibition layout. Thus the museum positions itself symbolically and functionally as open and fluid with its engagement of context and content.  -- ArchDaily

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Riverside Museum Wins European Museum Academy Micheletti Award 2012 -- ArchDaily

Source: Jorge Vertiz Gargollo archdaily.com

UIAC, León, Guanajuato, Mexico, 2011 designed by Landa Arquitectos

Its structure consists of a series of identical concrete frames that contain a double height space. The frames have extensions at 45 degrees on the west facade and the roof; they work as both downspouts and brise-soleils that produce different lighting effects throughout the day. Inside, the main area has an atrium that runs along the building, with concrete slabs on the sides hanging from steel beams. -- ArchDaily

Source: Associated Architects LLP archdaily.com

Princess Alexandra Auditorium, Yarm School, The Friarage, Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees, UK, 2012 designed by Associated Architects LLP

A double-height entrance foyer, maximising stunning views of the River Tees, connects the fan-shaped flexible auditorium, capable of seating up to 800, to a new riverside academic block containing classrooms, and multi-use dance and drama group activities spaces. -- ArchDaily

Source: A4 Studio archdaily.com

Golden Hall, Budapest, Hungary, 2012 designed by A4 Studio

The design focuses on the presence of the natural light in the hall, and on the visual connection between the interior and the surrounding outdoor sportpark. The zigzag shaped, north-oriented, front-high, glazed surfaces let the light in, without reflection. In this way the training or the competition is ensured not te be disturbed. -- ArchDaily

Source: John Gollings archdaily.com

The Braggs, Adelaide, South Australia, 2013 designed by BVN Architecture

The facade integrates notions of glass and light – the two key mediums of Photonics – through the development of a facetted glass envelope that wraps the building. Each level is facetted at varying angles of acuity to represent the different wavelengths of light as they are refracted to reveal the colours of the light spectrum. The result is a crystalline form that shimmers through its reflection and refraction of light throughout the day. -- ArchDaily

Source: Roland Halbe archdaily.com

Aix en Provence Conservatory of Music, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2013 designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates

There is a big difference in elevation within the site, and its neighboring land is also diverse. To solve such complexity, we chose aluminum as a single material for each façade, to be folded in part according to the face. By adding the work of “folding” to the thin aluminum panel, each façade is given subtle shading. The main element of the façade here, therefore, is light and shadow, instead of the aluminum. We were inspired for this idea by Paul Cézanne, the great artist from this region, and Japanese art of Origami. -- ArchDaily