Pale green ceramic tiles cover exhibition centre in China

Architecture practice Playze and design firm Schmidhuber covered the Ningbo Urban Planning Exhibition Center in eastern China in a skin of pale green glazed ceramic tiles.

Located in Ningbo Eastern New Town overlooking the waterfront, the conference centre is a venue for exhibitions and events relating to urban planning and development.

"The goal was to create an engaging, accessible public space in the new district, and thereby foster the dialogue between citizens and decision makers," said Schmidhuber and Playze.

The long history of ceramic production in Ningbo inspired the centre's facade.

The tiled surface sweeps around the upper level of the entire centre like a green hill.

Varying gaps between each tile have created a screen that is solid in some areas and more open in others.

This variegation diffuses light and views in different areas of the interior.

"The ceramic screen gradually shifts between being nearly transparent to fully opaque, according to programme needs and views to the surroundings," explained Playze.

Raised atop a concrete base that sweeps up from the waterfront promenade, the centre's large, flowing form comprises four arms arranged around a central atrium.

Between each of these arms are paved terraces and green spaces.

These terraces are linked by a winding pathway that wraps around the centre's perimeter.

A single entrance sits at ground floor level, and steps lead up to four separate entrances in each side of the centre's first floor.

The strip of uncovered glazing at the centre's base and a glazed ceiling flood bring natural light into the interiors.

A circular route of stairs and ramps wraps around the edge of the central atrium to create a promenade-style series of spaces.

"Visitors explore the exhibition much like an urban neighbourhood," said  Playze.

"They choose their own individual path through indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces, as well as lounges and terraces with scenic views of the city deliberately connecting the exhibition content with the newly developed urban surroundings."

The ground and first floors are dedicated to public areas, such as a restaurant, library and reading space.

Main exhibition halls are on the second and third floors.

On the roof is a public viewing terrace and cafe overlooking the landscape.

Architecture practice CROX recently took a similar approach of merging its design for the Liyang Museum into the surrounding landscape, perching its blob-like form atop a series of undulating hills on the waterfront.

Photography is by CreatAR Images.

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Project credits:

Architects (competition stage): Playze and Schmidhuber
Architects (execution stage): Playze
Local design institute: Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design and Research
Landscape design institute: Ningbo Institute of Urban Construction Design and Research
Facade consultant: RFR Group
General contractor: Hwaking Construction Group
Interior/exhibition design and construction: Feng Yu Zhu

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Mark Odom Studio restores mid-century building for Austin insurance company BKCW

US firm Mark Odom Studio has opened up the floor plan of a mid-century office building in Austin for insurance company BKCW.

The original structure by architects Pendley & Day was built in 1960 on North Lamar Boulevard, in an area just north of downtown Austin. It's low-slung form juts out on stilts to overlook Shoal Creek, a popular park that runs through the centre of the city.

Local insurance company BKCW recently purchased the property to restore the 3,000 square-foot (278 square metres) structure for use as their offices.

"Meredith and Tyler Spears, owners of the heritage and family operated insurance company BKCW, bought the building for its iconic mid-century architecture which they felt reflected their company culture, attitude, and goals," said Mark Odom Studio.

The office building had been subdivided multiple times over the years, creating cramped interiors with poor natural lighting. In an effort to return the structure to its original state, the architects started by removing these walls.

"This approach fully expressed the entire building volume by not only opening up the interior, but by allowing the prominent glass facades to flood the space with natural light," said the studio, which is based in Austin, and San Antonio Texas.

Visitors enter via a ramp that fronts North Lamar Boulevard and leads into the open-plan offices. A single opening in the brick volume provides access to an open-plan work area, flanked on two sides by private offices and a conference room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows, composed of more energy-efficient glazing and steel mullions, bring plenty of natural light into the workplace.

At the back, there is a secondary volume for the company's employees, including a break room and an exterior terrace behind the building.

"Complimenting the very public southern and western views, the eastern windows now face a revitalised subterranean back courtyard, which acts as a respite from the North Lamar traffic," said Mark Odom Studio.

In addition to salvaging beige brick from the original building, the firm developed a palette that references materials popular in the 1960s, such as cork flooring and stained wood paneling. Vintage furniture matches these material choices, completing the retro look of the revitalisation project.

Other projects in Austin include an eclectic restaurant with features salvaged from a New York City bar, and a carefully rehabilitated mid-century residence by architecture studio Clayton & Little.

Last summer, OMA was selected to complete the renovation of Houston's Barbara Jordan Post Office into a mixed-use venue for arts called POST.

Photography is by Leonid Furmansky.

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Seagulls and Pigeons Photobomb Shots of Rome by Photographer Skander Khlif

All images © Skander Khlif, used with permission

Munich-based photographer Skander Khlif documents public spaces with the Shakespearian mentality that life is theater and we are all actors. The play becomes both comedy and drama in his recent From Rome, With Birds… series. Seagulls and pigeons take center stage as they fly between the camera and scenes of Italian street life.

Either well-timed shots or a curated collection of happy accidents, Khlif’s humorous series presents an alternate view of a city typically visited and photographed for its architecture. Like people passing in front of buildings, the birds are almost oblivious to the beauty they are obstructing. In the artist bio on his site, Khlif shares that his interest in photography began with a school project back in his home city of Tunis. The experience “made him aware of the power that photography has to reveal the beauty in each object,” even Roman birds.

To see more of Khlif’s photography from his travels around the world, check out his Behance portfolio and follow him on Instagram.

 

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Studio Amit designs elderly housing with "sense of vitality" in Israel

Tel Aviv's Studio Amit has opted for colourful details to add flair to this retirement housing development in Israel.

Studio Amit designed the project for Maccabi Healthcare Services' chain of private, upscale retirement complexes around the country, called Bayit Balev.

Israel has national health insurance but requires membership to one of four organisations, either Maccabi, Clalit, Meuhedet and Leumit.

The local studio was tasked to design the public interior spaces of Bayit Balev's latest outpost in the city of Petah Tikva, also known as Em HaMoshavot, which is about a 30-minute drive east of Tel Aviv.

The five-storey complex was built by Tel Aviv practice Canaan Shenhav Architects and includes 211 units.

Studio Amit designed a host of areas like the lobby, dining room, swimming pool, gym and a synagogue.

"The challenge was to design a retirement home that does not look 'elderly' but rather create spaces with a contemporary modern feel, yet at the same time are warm and indulging," studio co-founder Gali Amit told Dezeen.

"Our design approach was to give the retiree population a homey feeling, as well as an exclusively modern, updated environment."

To soften Bayit Balev's stark grey marble floors and bare white walls, the studio added wood-clad feature walls and oak counters and cabinets.

Almost all of the furniture is by Moroso. On the ground floor is the Italian brand's Redondo chairs and sofas in metallic salmon, sage and grey fabrics, while a basement has pink and red seating.

"The challenge was to create a sense of brilliance and newness in an elegant way," Amit added. "Thus the choice of fabrics for the Moroso sofas was high-quality velvet with special stitching that sparkle as the lighting change."

A central column in the lobby is painted pink and green and conceals stairs that connect the communal areas on the three levels.

Studio Amit, which Amit runs with her partner Yoav, also used a similar pink-and-green palette in Tel Aviv's Bana cafe.

"It was essential to convey a sense of vitality, 'alive and kicking', hence the bold choice of colour," Amit added.

Other colourful details are cobalt blue walls in the gym, and bright purple carpet and seats in the movie theatre.

Decor includes a geometric Visioni rug by Spanish designer by Patricia Urquiola, globe light fixtures by local company Kamchi and floor lamps by Barcelona lighting brand Vibia.

A dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows has grey Gubi chairs, and a synagogue has a cut-out wall design with a geometric motif of the Star of David.

Rounding out Studio Amit's Bayit Balev are treatment rooms, classrooms, and all-day health care and security.

Staff rooms and offices are located in the mezzanine above the ground floor.

Other retirement houses around the world are a Montreal high-rise by ACDF, a brick building with pink concrete interiors by Dominique Coulon, and a low-slung concrete construction by Guillem Carrera in Spain.

Photography is by Amit Geron.

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Timber health centre surrounds courtyard of medicinal plants

MAAJ Architectes placed a cross-shaped courtyard for growing medicinal plants at the heart of a timber-framed health centre in the French town of Taverne.

The Taverny Medical Centre brings together several previously disparate healthcare facilities under one roof.

Because of the busy road next door MAAJ Architectes, decided to turn the building inwards.

The plan of the Taverny Medical Centre draws on the ancient cloister typology common in monasteries.

"In this peri-urban landscape, the aim was to set up an anchorage to the new building," MAAJ Architectes co-founder Marc-Antonie Richard-Kowienski told Dezeen.

"Thus the large plot was reshaped into a domestic landscape around the health centre."

Four individual metal pitched roofs with skylights sit at each corner of the centre's square plan

The cross-shaped central courtyard is wrapped by the centre's main circulation area.

"The central patio offers several advantages such as natural lighting for the whole building," said the practice.

"It also serves as an open extension of the waiting rooms and acts as an intimate and sensory place where medicinal plants are grown, a reminder of the health and curative purpose of the centre."

Waiting areas are nestled into each corner protruding into the courtyard, and staircases positioned along its north and south edges.

Treatment rooms are placed around the perimeter.

Its exterior walls are infilled with wooden sheets, with only small windows to shut out noise and views from the road.

A glazed section of the exterior envelope marks the centre's entrance, which is approached via a small landscaped garden that helps to create a buffer between it and the road.

Interiors are pale and calm, with exposed timber between the glazing, white ceilings and white balustrades of thin steel.

MAAJ Architectes was founded in 2004 by Richard-Kowienski and Anne-Julie Martinon.

Norweigian practice Hille Melbye recently made similar use of the courtyard typology for a psychiatric centre in Oslo, with garden spaces that are intended to act as an extension of the therapy taking place inside.

Photography is by François-Xavier Da Cunha Leal.

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