Conservation, Renovation and Conversion

Source: Ricardo Bofill archdaily.com

The Factory, Sant Just Desvern, Spain, 1975 designed by Ricardo Bofill

In 1973 Ricardo Bofill found a disused cement factory, an industrial complex from the turn of the century consisting of over 30 silos, subterranean galleries and huge machine rooms, and he decided to transform it into the head office of Taller de Arquitectura. Remodelling work lasted two years. This project is evidence of the fact that an imaginative architect may adapt any space to a new function, no matter how different it may be from the original one.-- ArchDaily

Source: nytimes.com

Expansion of the Morgan Library, New York City, New York, USA, 2006 designed by Renzo Piano

Blasting through 50 feet of bedrock, he adds book vaults and a 280-seat theater underground, minimizing the visual scale of his project. The Voorsanger addition is gone, replaced by a large glass-and-steel entry pavilion. Two more pavilions — a gallery and offices — are set on 36th and 37th Streets, completing three sides of a central light-drenched court.

The layout sets up a mesmerizing rhythm between new and old. The boxy pavilions are joined to the more massive stone buildings by vertical slots of glass. -- New York Times

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Source: EMBAIXADA arquitectura

Casa dos Cubos, Tomar, Portugal, 2007 designed by EMBAIXADA arquitectura

Since the last decade of the xx century, it has been usual, especially in the old Europe, the commission of projects demanding the conservation, renovation and conversion of constructions from a recent and distant past and from the most diverse typologies, and cultural matrices – This Interior architecture often becomes a field of experimentation for architectural ideas and one of the most challenging themes of the contemporary city. Not only because of urban conditions but also because of historical, social and political demands. This preservation syndrome, sometimes leads to a overvaluation of the building structures.

A new interior within an interior interior. A machine capable of producing space, installed in a shell that was progressively deflated and then insufflated with a new and strange form of life.  -- ArchDaily

Source: Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos archdaily.com

Sabadell Housing Renovation, Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain, 2007 designed by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

The intervention consists in the restoration of a small industrial building and the addition of a new floor to it in order to turn it into a residential building. -- ArchDaily

Source: Thomas Mayer arcspace.com

Francois Pinault Foundation, Punta della Dogana, Venice, Italy, 2009 designed by Tadao Ando

Tadao Ando drew up his plans for the new centre quickly. In effect, if one looks at his drawings one sees that, from the first, the broad outlines of the project were clear in his mind. The characteristic layout of the former warehouses was to be maintained.  -- ArcSpace

Guggenheim Passed Over for New Venice Museum -- The New York Times

Source: construction.com

Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany, 2009 designed by David Chipperfield Architects

Chipperfield and Harrap’s accomplishment with the Neues is prodigious. Their approach, like that of the 1964 International Charter of Conservation and Restoration of Monuments (aka the Venice Charter) calls for exposing changes that have occurred through time, rather than returning a building to its original condition, often as a facsimile. -- Architectural Record

Source: Dennis Gilbert archdaily.com

Gunpowder Mill, Waltham Abbey, UK, 2009 designed by Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects

Two early 20th century buildings, the Power House and the Water Tower, have been converted to form a new headquarters office for the client, while remaining faithful to the industrial history of the site. A new three-storey glazed structure completes the office complex and incorporates a top-floor terrace which links all three buildings and gives magnificent views out over the adjacent water meadows. -- ArchDaily

source: Lvfeng photography Studio archdaily.com

Pavilion 4, Shanghai, China, 2010 designed by HMA Architects & Designers

The aim of our pavilion is to exhibit a practical example for sustainable city. Our design intention is to reuse existing structure and material as much as we can use, and reduce many scrap materials by half. -- ArchDaily

Source: mlzd archdaily.com

Janus, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, 2011 designed by mlzd

The project to put up the new building has been sensitively integrated in the historic town. The view from the north, which is important for the overall visual impression of the town, is to remain unchanged. The building fits discreetly into the background of the historic picture presented by the narrow town-centre streets. With the new terrain situation and the tasteful bronze façade, the building imposes a new emphasis on its immediate surroundings and can easily be read as the main entrance to a modern museum complex. -- ArchDaily

Source: Christian Flatscher archdaily.com

Hauptschule Rattenberg, Rattenberg, Österreich, Austria, 2011 designed by Daniel Fügenschuh

A 15th century monastery in Rattenberg, Tyrol was first transformed to a secondary school with a new gym extension in the early 1970ies. To meet today’s social needs and pedagogic standards a new school extension became necessary so pupils can stay after school and get lunch. Open plan zones will free up space to allow for alternative teaching methods.

With a modern approach of protecting architectural heritage the building opens up to the historic centre re-defining the importance of the school in the urban context of Rattenberg. -- ArchDaily

Source: PTE Architects archdaily.com

The Granary, Abbey Road, Barking, UK, 2011 designed by Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects

The new extension takes its cue from the strong gabled form of the original building. Clad in striking bronze panels, the new accommodation is attached to the existing via the vertical circulation core and a high level bridge link. A new atrium garden makes previously obscured elevations visible again. -- ArchDaily

Source: FG+SG archdaily.com

Rehabilitation of Former Prison of Palencia as Cultural Civic​ Center, Palencia, Spain designed by Exit Architects

....composed mainly of four two-storey wings and some other with one storey. On this building was planned a comprehensive refurbishment to transform the former use and convert it into a center that promotes the social and cultural activity in this part of the town. -- ArchDaily

Source: OFIS arhitekti

Baroque Court Apartments, Ljubljana, Slovenia designed by OFIS arhitekti

....connect the houses into one single unit with implementation of 12 apartments around the small internal court. Baroque elevations facing the street had to be mainly reconstructed to their original state, the internal court on the other hand could be adapted and revitalized; both under the State Heritage supervision. The concept reinstates the existing court as a new central communicating space between levels and apartments. At the same time provides light into the apartment spaces overlooking the court.  -- ArchDaily

Source: Andrea Cordoni archdaily.com

Chemical and Biological Library, Ferrara, Province of Ferrara, Italy designed by Giuseppe Rebecchini

A tiered structure, where the great central wall blue, reminiscent of the end of four hundred paintings Ferrara, star of the whole project, dividing the space into two, becomes a unifying element of the various plans with the scale that supports and container enclosing inside all the technical equipment and piping for heating and cooling the building naturally. -- ArchDaily

Source: popupcity.net

McAllen Public Library, McAllen, Texas, USA designed by Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle

Designers Turn Abandoned Walmart Into America’s Largest Library

Designers Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle completely overhauled the interior to create a bright and playful space for books and people to intermingle. At 124,500 sqft, this McAllen Public Library is the largest single-floor public library in the US. The library recently received the 2012 Library Interior Design Award. The sprawling library contains a computer lab, study rooms, a cafe, an auditorium, even a genealogy research area, as well as separate areas for children, teens, and adults. The library has been well received by the community as registration went up by 23% within one month of its opening. Hurray for adaptive reuse! -- the Pop-Up City

Source: Miguel de Guzmán archdaily.com

OostCampus, Oostkamp, Belgium, 2012 designed by Carlos Arroyo

.... opted for a radical re-use of the large industrial existing building, including foundations, floors, supporting structures, outer skin, insulation, waterproofing, and all recoverable services and equipment: power station, heating plant, water pipes, fire hoses, sewerage, and even parking area, fencing and access. -- ArchDaily

Source: Ivan Brodey archdaily.com

Nedregate Culture District, Oslo, Norway, 2012 designed by Space Group

The original industrial building has a rich history of uses, from textile industry to offices and events. Part of the building burned down in the 1980s. The project inserts a completely new architecture inside the shell of the old while preserving the historic. The two correlates while both being clearly architecturally defined. -- ArchDaily

Source: Martin Gardner archdaily.com

Manor House Stables, Headbourne Worthy, Winchester, UK, 2013 designed by AR Design Studio

The concept was to preserve the existing while making any new additions simple and pure in order to let the original character shine. This results in an innovative arrangement of spaces according to the Stable’s existing layout, in order to maintain many of the existing exposed timber interior walls. These were then cleaned, stripped back and refurbished to reveal an exquisite amount of detailing and craftsmanship. -- ArchDaily

Source: Laila Bahman archrecord.construction.com

Queens Museum, New York City, New York, USA, 2013 designed by Grimshaw

The main feature of the Grimshaw design is a 30-foot-tall daylight-diffusing structure, referred to as the “lantern,” suspended from a new skylight over the central, large works gallery. A suite of smaller galleries for more light-sensitive works surrounds the central gallery, with louvers to control daylight levels. -- Architectural Record

Building Reuse

The Environmental Value of Building Reuse

A report produced by the Preservation Green Lab of the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the potential environmental benefit of building reuse.

This groundbreaking study, The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse, concludes that, when comparing buildings of equivalent size and function, building reuse almost always offers environmental savings over demolition and new construction. -- National trust for Historic Preservation

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Source: architectural-review.com

Park Hill, Sheffield, UK, 1960 designed by Sheffield’s City Architect’s Office as run by J Lewis Womersley, 2011 revovated by Urban Splash

From a building conservation point of view too, much has changed, and we may yet regret the lost authenticity, but Park Hill is better preserved in an altered state than not at all, and for the sake of its inhabitants’ memories as well as for its architecture. -- Architectural Review

Source: architectural-review.com

Tour Bois-le-Prêtre, Paris, France, 1961 designed by Raymond Lopez , 2011 revovated by Frédéric Druot and Lacaton & Vassal 

Over the past two decades, demolition has often been the preferred option, on ideological and economic grounds. On the one hand, the image of high-rise estates was held to be irredeemably tarnished, whereas on the other it was thought that demolition/reconstruction was the cheaper and easier option, given that 1960s norms of energy consumption and thermal performance were so far behind today’s standards.

In the revamped tower there are now seven different apartment types, ranging from one to seven rooms, and the total number of dwellings has risen to 100 flats.  This increase was made possible by the architects’ major intervention, extending the tower on all four sides through the addition of self-supporting steel structures. -- Architectural Review

Source: KAA Design Group archdaily.com

Latitude 33, Marina del Rey, California, USA designed by KAA Design Group

Latitude 33, a luxurious collection of beach-side homes ranging from townhouses, penthouses, and single floor units, was partially designed from a forty year-old, nine-storey “eye sore for the neighborhood” that was once an office building. -- ArchDaily

ArchitecTie

Source: kickstarter.com

ArchitecTie is line of architecturally inspired neckties , influenced by great examples of modern architecture. Why should Frank Lloyd Wright have all the fun? -- KickStarter

Pedestrian Ways: Modern Pedestrian Bridges 3

Source: popupcity.net

Rotterdam’s Crowd-Funded Pedestrian Bridge

The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) and Rotterdam-based architecture firm ZUS have launched the project I Make Rotterdam, a spectacular temporary pedestrian bridge between the city’s Central and the North districts that will be financed through crowd-funding. -- The Pop-Up City

Book: The Genealogy of Cities

The Genealogy of Cities, ISBN-13: 978-0873389396, March 2009 by Charles P. Graves Jr.

The Genealogy of Cities is a compilation of ancient and modern city plans, from 350 BCE to the present, depicting both built and proposed plans. Written in clear and accessible prose, it is illustrated with more than 500 plans drawn at the same scale, a unique feature of this work. It provides a previously unavailable tool for academics and professionals who must grapple with the issue of scale in researching and teaching urban design or when creating new urban spaces.

City Visions

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and New York, USA – Compelling Visions of New York and Amsterdam in 2040

In March this year[2011], New York’s Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan that provides a sustainable framework for the city’s 835km of shoreline. Also this spring[2011], the Dutch government launched the Amsterdam Plan: 2040, a strategy tackling climate change and shifting demographics that aims to reduce the ecological footprint of the city. Both plans, though devised independently of one another, indicate a desire to position Amsterdam and New York as competitive global cities. -- Architectural Review

New Building Codes to Meet PlaNYC Goals

.... enacted 29 new recommendations of the Green Codes Task Force that will provide the proper foundation for New York to meet the aggressive PlanNYC Goals for 2030.

The implementation of such codes is the result of the formation of the NYC Green Codes Task Force, an organization led by Urban Green Council, that proposed over 100 recommendations in 2010 to address a wide range of sustainable issues; and, in the two years since that report, the Mayor’s Office and City Council have made 29 of those recommendations law, and are currently working to codify 8 others. -- ArchDaily

Skin of Architecture: Pattern 6

Source: David Frutos archdaily.com

Monteagudo Museum, Murcia, Spain, 2010 designed by Amann-Cánovas-Maruri

The building is constructed on the ground floor with exposed concrete structural screens and shutters. In the top section runs with a metal structure that resolves the long flights and closed with a panel of multiple sheets is sealed with a waterproofing hot end is topped with a skin of perforated Cor-Ten steel, which acts as final layer of a trans-ventilated facade takes up the old issue of climate as a backdrop.  -- ArchDaily

Source: Eugeni Pons archdaily.com

Covered Frontón in Ajangiz, Barrio Mendieta, Spain, 2011 designed by Blur Arquitectura

....a folded sheet, sensitive to its surroundings, will adapt to the topographic and volumetric conditions of the site, guarding the areas that are required to be protected. -- ArchDaily

Source: FG+SGarchdaily.com

Corten Apartments, Via Veneto 5d, 30030 Vigonovo Venice, Italy, 2012 designed by 3ndy Studio

Taking a place back to life and bringing it back to its ancient glory means to recall the voices that lived in it, the history fragments, the pieces of daily life and tradition that can be found and traced out on a sheet of paper. This huge piece of paper has become, in the project of the Campiello, a big sculpture made of 190 sheets of corten steel which spread for 300 mq and are to be read as a giant and enigmatic page of a book. -- ArchDaily

Onto the Water

Source: Veronica Aguilar

Leça Swimming Pools, Leça de Palmeira, Portugal, 1966 designed by Alvaro Siza

By sinking the building behind the road Siza promotes a disconnect between his pools and the infrastructure of the city.  He is also considerate of the ocean views from the roadway. Siza was careful to preserve a large portion of the existing rock formations when planning his modern interventions into the landscape. The pools he created reach out into the ocean and blend easily with the natural pool formations along the coast of the Atlantic. -- ArchDaily

Source: big.dk

Copenhagen Harbour Bath, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2003 designed by BIG/PLOT, JDS

The Harbour Bath design has emerged out of the desire of extending the surrounding park onto the water and the practical needs for accessibility, safety and programmatic demand. The Harbour Bath realises the transition from land to water as a terassed landscape. -- architect's web site

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Source: Ole Haupt archdaily.com

Kastrup Sea Bath, Kastrup, Denmark, 2004 designed by White arkitekter AB

Reaching out into the Øresund from Kastrup Strandpark in Kastrup, Kastrup Sea Bath forms a living and integral part of the new sea front.

The project consists of the main building on the water, the new beach and an ajoining service building with lavatories and a handicap changing room. -- ArchDaily

Source: popupcity.ent

Public Swimming Pool, New York City, New York, USA

In New York the most obvious example of crowd-funded urbanism is the public swimming pool floating in the Hudson River. So many New Yorkers (and not New Yorkers) liked the idea so much that they wanted to be part of the process of making it possible. And now it’s there, thanks to the 41,647 dollar that was collected by 1,203 backers at Kickstarter. -- The Pop-Up City

Source: Kulturarena Veranstaltungs archdaily.com

Badeschiff, Berlin, Germany, 2013 designed by Wilk-Salinas Architekten

The winter-roofs base area is limited to the existing arrangement and consists of three lengthwise airy  parts of a structure constructed with membrans, which are divorcing the interior into three functional areas: lounge, sauna- area and finally the pool ship. These areas are connected via added boxes where the sanitarian  rooms are included. -- ArchDaily

Source: Fernando Guerra | FG + SG archdaily.com

The Building on the Water, Huai’an, Jiangsu, China, 2014 designed by Álvaro Siza + Carlos Castanheira

Meticulously built in white exposed concrete, the building’s pristine curvilinear form measures over 300m in length, comprising two levels above water and a total built floor area of approximately 11,000 sqm. As if evoking a life-like dragon, elegantly poised over water, the contours of this building gently undulates. -- ArchDaily

Floating Roofs 7

Source: Foster + Partners

Stansted Airport, Stansted , UK, 1991 designed by Foster + Partners

All service distribution systems are contained within the trunks of the structural trees that rise up from the undercroft through the concourse floor. These trees support a lightweight roof that is freed simply to keep out rain and let in light. Entirely daylit on all but the most overcast of days, the constantly changing play of light gives the concourse a poetic dimension and also has significant energy and economic advantages, leading to running costs half those of any other British terminal.  -- architect's web site

Airports come of age -- The Architectural Review

Source: jourda-architectes.com

Courthouse, Melun, France, 1998 designed by Jourda Architectes

The spaces intended to receive the public are organised within the glazed volume of the ground floor, while the office spaces are distributed over 3 or 5 levels, within an opaque mass set over the building’s translucent base. The glazed ground floor area encloses the sculpted volumes of the courtrooms, where natural light penetrates through light wells punctured though the surrounding envelope. The central hall, the “salle des Pas Perdus”, is lit by a glazed roof, cut out of the offices’ courtyard on the floor above. The main street façade is protected by a series of louvers. These aluminium scales, with golden tints, open and close independently of one another. They control the natural light within the building and form a protective skin.-- architect's web site.

Source: Richard Meier & Partners Architects

United States Courthouse, Pheonix, Arizona, USA, 2000 designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects

Solar orientation and facade articulation reinforce the design intentions: the atrium faces north, receiving the benefits of reflected light through a tessellated curtain wall of transparent and frit glass. The facade is given additional dimension by its structural framework: T-profile steel columns, which raise the full height of the building, mullions that project in relief, and shadowbox techniques.  -- ArchDaily

Source: aecom.com

Georgetown University Law School, Sport and Fitness Center, Washington, D.C., USA, 2004 designed by Shepley Bulfinch/AECOM

Abutting the law building, the Sport and Fitness Center takes texture and material cues from its neighboring structure, yet its sleek, steel and glass exterior creates a dramatic counterpoint - and what an Athletic Business Magazine Award juror called - a welcome response "to some of the more traditional and contextual designs so common on campuses." Entry facade floor-to-ceiling glass and light-filled interior spaces create a sense of openness and visibility on all four, activity-filled levels. -- architect's web site

Source: Didier Boy de La Tour archdaily.com

Casa-Port Railway Station, Casablanca, Morocco designed by AREP

Under its large roof, the transport hub houses waiting areas, circulations, services as well as retail outlets and a two-tier underground car park facility. The concourse is the major element of the hub and opens up onto a large forecourt on the south-west and the platforms on the north-east. -- ArchDaily

New Waterfront Cities

Songdo IBD, Seoul, South Korea

Songdo IBD is being developed on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land in South Korea along Incheon's waterfront, 40 miles from Seoul and just 7 miles from Incheon International Airport. Developed by Gale International and Korea's POSCO E&C, this master-planned metropolis is a model of sustainable, city-scale development and innovation. The first phase of the new international city opened in August 2009. -- official web site

Read an article from Architectural Record 

HafenCity, Hamburg, Germany

The idea of a new inner-city district was conceived soon after the fall of the Wall and the Iron Curtain. Before publication of the blueprint for HafenCity, the Masterplan, in 2000, important fundamentals had already been put in place in the 1990s .

....currently Europe’s largest inner-city development project – is a blueprint for the development of a European city on the waterfront. -- official web site

Innovation Districts/Cities

22@Barcelona project, Poblenou, Barcelona, Spain

22@Barcelona project transforms two hundred hectares of industrial land of Poblenou into an innovative district offering modern spaces for the strategic concentration of intensive knowledge-based activities. This initiative is also a project of urban refurbishment and a new model of city providing a response to the challenges posed by the knowledge-based society.

It is the most important project of urban transformation of Barcelona city of the last years and one of the most ambitious of Europe of these characteristics, with a high real state potential and a 180 million Euros public investment of infrastructure plan. -- Official web site

Innovation District, Boston, USA

The urban lab component of the Innovation District is at the heart of achieving a new level of metropolitan livability.  The current underdeveloped landscape will allow for the testing of groundbreaking technologies in clean energy, citizen participation, transportation, and city infrastructure.  The South Boston waterfront is a proving ground for collaborative efforts between the City and its partners, scaling up the successes to benefit all neighborhoods.

The 1,000 acres of iconic waterfront property poses an opportunity to shape the future of environmental leadership. -- Official web site

Source: techcrunch.com

Berlin’s Startup Innovators Create A Factory To Call Their Own By Mike Butcher on April 25, 2012

JMES Investments, a Berlin based Angel and Seed Investor has partnered with a large property company, s+p Real Estate, and together with private investors, have have acquired and begun to develop an 8,500 square-meter office building. It stands on the site of the former Oswald Brauerei building in Berlin’s central Mitte district (on Rheinsberger Strasse, at the corner with Brunnenstrasse,here). The space will become a new tech hub comprising a startup incubator and accelerator programs with office space for Berlin’s ‘most successful’ – as they call it – startups. -- techcrunch

Source: archdaily.com

The Tech City Map, the web of connections linking East London's vibrant technology and creative ecosystem.

Located in an easily accessible and hip neighborhood of artists, fashionistas, and tech companies in East London, Tech City is more than just a physical area – it’s a web of interactions. Just take a look at the Tech City Map (a visual representation of Twitter mentions and conversations between Tech City companies), and you can see that Tech City is all about community. -- ArchDaily

Source: SOM.com

SOM Wins Master Plan Competition for Beijing Bohai Innovation City

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP (SOM) has been selected as winner of an international design competition with its Beijing Bohai Innovation City master plan that illustrates a new model of compact, environmentally enhanced urban design.

The winning proposal centers a new environmentally friendly district along the high-speed rail line, linking the national capital to the port city of Tianjin while leveraging the economic and lifestyle assets of the Beijing-Tianjin corridor. The city expansion will bring 17.6 million square meters of mixed-use development, with a focus on providing a premier headquarters location for advanced industries in the dynamically growing Bohai Rim, a region that already accounts for more than a quarter of China’s GDP. -- ArchDaily

Source: Sasaki Associates, archdaily.com

Masterplan for National Creative Cluster, Beijing, China designed by Sasaki Associates

The masterplan for the National Creative Cluster by Sasaki Associates integrates the urban form with the surrounding landscape by creating a series of green wedges, interspersed within the urban clusters and forming a series of community parks.

 A unique opportunity exists to create a new urban district dedicated entirely to the cultivation of new ideas. The National Creative Cluster (NCC) is envisioned as China’s preeminent knowledge hub, making the district a center for the country’s innovative home-grown talent and a destination for the world’s most creative thinkers. -- ArchDaily