CTA Creative Architects uses perforated bricks to form Wall House in Vietnam

Hole-punctured bricks bring air and sunlight into this multi-generational family home in the city of Bien Hoa, Vietnam designed by CTA Creative Architects.

Wall House is shared by a mum, dad, their two children and their grandmother and grandfather.

When it came to briefing CTA Creative Architects on the design of the two-storey house, the clients didn't have any strict ideas about how it should look aesthetically but specified that the living spaces should feel bright and airy.

"According to recently published scientific research, indoor air quality is worse than outdoor air quality," said the practice.

"Therefore, most of our discussions with the house owner tended to the idea of a house which is able to 'breathe' 24/7 by itself."

The practice decided to construct most of Wall House's exterior using perforated square bricks that allow fresh air and natural light to seep in from the outdoors.

All of the bricks were salvaged from the building sites of properties nearby and have been punctuated to feature four small holes.

The practice also saved burnt and blackened bricks and have interspersed them across the facade to form dark patches of colour.

Instead of being arranged in a traditional gridded formation, the bricks have also been haphazardly stacked to create an irregular, bumpy surface finish.

A wide flight of tiered stairs leads up to the front entrance. The steps have been printed with a holey pattern that matches the bricks on the facade.

Inside is an expansive living area illuminated by two large square windows that have been made in Wall House's front elevation. Sunlight also filters in from the home's glass roof.

To enhance the sense of the outdoors, the practice has created a small "garden" around the periphery of the room by planting an array of leafy green plants and trees.

The practice has otherwise kept the material palette of the home very simple – exposed-aggregate concrete covers the floor and dark wood has been used to craft the cabinetry in the kitchen.

A black-metal staircase with a wire-frame balustrade leads to the first level of the home. The bedrooms here and those at ground level are arranged around a void that extends up through both floors.

CTA Creative Architects was founded in 2014 by Bui The Long, Võ The Duy, Nguyen Thi Xuan Thanh and Mai Huu Tin.

The practice's Wall House joins a growing number of striking brick homes in Vietnam – back in 2018, H&P Architects wrapped two layers of perforated brickwork to create the angular exterior of a house in the capital city of Hanoi.

Last year, architecture studio Tropical Space also used red brick to build a home that resembles a cuckoo clock in the municipality of Da Nang.

Photography is by Hiroyuki Oki.

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Project credits:

Architecture: CTA Creative Architects
Builder: Viet Tin Phuc

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Dezeen Awards 2020 longlists will be announced next week

Thanks again to everyone who entered Dezeen Awards 2020. As longlisting, the first stage of the judging process, comes to an end, here's what will happen next.

10-13 August: longlists published

The longlists will be published on Dezeen, on our social media channels and in a newsletter. Each longlisted entry will receive its own page on the Dezeen Awards website.

Architecture longlist: 10 August
Interiors longlist: 11 August
Design longlist: 12 August
Studio longlist: 13 August

Early September: shortlists published

The shortlisting stage of the judging process has already started. It involves our star-studded panel of 75 judges, who will select a shortlist of between four and eight entries in each project category using an online scoring system.

We'll be in touch in early September to let you know if you've been shortlisted. All shortlisted projects will be published in full on Dezeen.

Late September: master jury day

In previous years, up to 15 judges gathered in London to convene and ratify the suggested project category winners and select the overall winners in the architecture, interiors and design project categories.

This year, the master jury day will still take place but the format may have to be different due to coronavirus. We will keep everyone updated about this and make an announcement closer to the time.

Late October: winners announced

Winners will be announced in late October. We'll be sharing more details of this year's Dezeen Awards ceremony soon.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please email awards@dezeen.com and someone from the team will get back to you.

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Virgin Galactic reveals high-speed Mach 3 aircraft design

Virgin Galactic has unveiled the triangular design of its high-speed commercial aircraft Mach 3, which will feature an engine developed by Rolls-Royce.

The Mach 3 aircraft would have capacity for nine to 19 passengers, who would be flown at an altitude above 60,000 feet (18,300 metres) – the maximum cruise altitude of Concorde, which had an average cruise speed of Mach 2.

It would have delta-wings, the triangle-shaped wings used on the Concorde and a number of other supersonic aircrafts.

The vehicle would also be designed to accommodate "custom" cabin interior layouts to offer flyers Business or First Class-style seating arrangements, as well as service for passengers on long-distance commercial flights.

The unveiling of the aircraft design was announced alongside the news that Virgin Galactic has partnered with Rolls-Royce to develop the engine propulsion technology for the Mach 3.

Rolls-Royce, typically known as a luxury car brand, was responsible for developing the Olympus 593 turbojet engine that powered the supersonic commercial Concorde aircraft.

The Mach 3 has been designed to be powered by innovative sustainable aviation fuel in a bid to make it less damaging to the environment.

"We are excited to complete the Mission Concept Review and unveil this initial design concept of a high speed aircraft, which we envision as blending safe and reliable commercial travel with an unrivalled customer experience," said George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic's chief space officer.

"We are pleased to collaborate with the innovative team at Rolls-Royce as we strive to develop sustainable, cutting-edge propulsion systems for the aircraft, and we are pleased to be working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure our designs can make a practical impact from the start."

"We have made great progress so far, and we look forward to opening up a new frontier in high speed travel," Whitesides added.

According to Virgin Galactic, the aircraft is intended to make high-speed travel "practical, sustainable, safe, and reliable" as well as being focused on customer experience.

The Mach 3 would take off and land in the same way as any other passenger aircraft, and would be expected to work with existing airport infrastructure.

The Virgin Galactic team will now progress onto the next phase of design, which involves finalising the architecture of the aircraft and selecting which materials will be used in its design and manufacturing.

Virgin Galactic recently unveiled the interior design of its SpaceshipTwo craft, which is set to take six passengers on a sub-orbital flight into space to view the Earth and experience several minutes of weightlessness.

The cabin design was created in collaboration with London studio Seymourpowell to provide "safety without distraction" as well as to maximise the views of Earth from space.

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Renzo Piano unveils replacement for collapsed motorway bridge in Genoa

Renzo Piano's Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, which is the replacement for the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in a storm almost two years ago, has opened in Italy.

Built in Piano's home town of Genoa, the 1,100-metre-long motorway bridge was inaugurated by the Italian prime minister almost exactly two years after the previous bridge collapsed on 14 August 2018 killing 43 people.

The design and build of the new bridge over the Polcevera river and the area of Val Polcevera was completed in less than two years following round the clock construction.

"Its rapid reconstruction aims to become a model for the renovation and adaptation of Italian infrastructure with a high social, economic and strategic significance," said Piano's studio Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

Described by the studio as an "urban bridge", the bridge's deck is supported by 18 slender reinforced concrete piers spaced 50 metres apart except in the central section where they are separated by 100 metres.

Each of the piers has an elliptical section designed to allow the light to "slip" on the surface and help mitigate the impact on the neighbourhood below.

The piers support a steel and concrete deck that is isolated by a system of support devices that are designed to protect the structure from seismic activity.

According to Piano's studio, the underside of the deck is curved to be reminiscent of the form of a ship.

"From an architectural point of view, the form described by the deck, which recalls the hull of a ship, is of great importance," said the studio.

"The gradual reduction of the section towards the ends of the bridge attenuates the visual impact of the new infrastructure. In addition, the use of a light colour for the coating of the steel elements makes the bridge bright, harmonising its presence in the landscape."

Along the sides of the bridge deck are a series of metal fins that extend from the bridge's steel structure along with rows of photovoltaic panels that will power its lighting and a 2.5-metre-high protective glass barrier.

"The transparency of the glass and, consequently, the extreme visual permeability that derives from it, makes it possible to observe the surrounding landscape by crossing the new bridge, as well as lightening its presence in the valley for those who will live it from the city," said the studio.

Described as an "intelligent instrument" by the studio the bridge will be continuously monitored using a system of internal sensors including accelerometers, extensometers, velocimeters, inclinometers and detectors for joint expansion.

These sensors will be supplemented by robots that will run along rails on the bridge's edge to monitor the superstructure externally and will also clean the photovoltaic panels.

The Genoa San Giorgio Bridge replaces the Morandi Bridge, which was completed in 1974 and was a local landmark in the city of Genoa.

Designed by Italian engineer Riccardo Morandi, the cable-stayed bridge was completed in 1967 and had an unusual structure as it was a concrete cable-stayed bridge.

As part of the plan to rejuvenate of the area under the collapsed bridge, Stefano Boeri has designed elevated walkway as part of the Polcevera Park and The Red Circle masterplan.

Photography is by Shunji Ishida.

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Project credits:

Concept and supervision: Renzo Piano
Technical project: Italferr
General contractor: Pergenova ScpA
Project & construction management and quality assurance: Rina Consulting SpA
Lighting consultants: iGuizzini
Client: Commissario ricostruzione Genova

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Hundreds of Symbols From Prehistory to Modern Day Comprise a Gold ‘S’ Screenprint by Seb Lester

“S” (2020), metallic rose gold screenprint on black Plike art paper, 330 gsm, 24.4 x 24.4 inches. All images © Seb Lester, shared with permission

Centered on the letter “S,” an anachronistic print from Seb Lester (previously) blends hundreds of symbols into one embellished form. Rendered in metallic on black paper, the typographic piece captures an incredibly long timeline, from prehistory to the Dark Ages to the Renaissance to present day. Look closely and you’ll spot snippets of cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphics, emojis, and modern logos.

Based in Lewes, England, the artist and calligrapher channeled the heavily detailed marginalia and flourishes of illuminated manuscripts. “I have spent two decades studying the most beautiful examples of intricate letterform and ornamental design I can find. This letter ‘S’ is arguably the most intricate letterform that has ever been drawn,” he shares with Colossal.

Lester released a limited run of 150 gold screenprints, which currently are available in his shop. Check out the video below to see all of the piece’s gleaming intricacies, and follow the artist on Instagram to keep up with his latest releases.

 

 

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A post shared by Seb Lester (@seblester) on Aug 3, 2020 at 5:20am PDT

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