Thursday, 3 September 2020

The Olive Houses are off-grid retreats hidden in Mallorca's mountains

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

Craggy boulders jut through walls in these off-grid guesthouses that architecture studio Mar Plus Ask has built in Mallorca, Spain, for creatives in need of a quiet escape.

Tucked away high up in Mallorca's Tramuntana mountains, The Olive Houses are run year-round by Mar Plus Ask as a silent refuge where solo architects, writers and artists can stay free from interruption.

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

The pair of houses are enclosed by a dense grove of thousand-year-old olive trees, which at points is interrupted by huge boulders resembling "natural monumental sculptures".

Keen to leave this rugged terrain largely untouched, Mar Plus Ask set about designing two modest structures – one that accommodates sleeping quarters, the other cooking facilities – that look like homes in the surrounding landscape.

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

"Our first reaction was that only if we could come up with something that would add something in a respectful and beautiful way, would we ever consider building," explained the studio, which is led by Mar Vicens and Ask Anker Aistrup.

"However, it was calming that the functions we were looking to build wouldn't be much different than those of the existing structures found in the area."

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

One of the houses is partially embedded into an existing stone terrace, which the studio hopes will help the structure keep cool during the warm summer months.

A sliding teakwood door can be pushed back to reveal a grand arched entrance. Inside, the house has a series of smooth, sloping surfaces similar to those seen within a cave.

The walls, floor and ceiling have been exclusively rendered in blush-pink stucco, as the studio felt the colour was complementary to the pale green shade seen on the underside of an olive tree leaf.

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

A corner of the house has been built around a craggy boulder that the studio left in situ, illuminated by a skylight directly above.

"To us, the stone became a piece of art – suddenly the house was more about sculpting its backdrop and being its lightbox," explained the studio.

Just beside the boulder, an overhead shower has been fitted, while a single bed lies on the other side of the house. Outside there's also a large sink, the basin of which is formed from rock.

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

Mar Plus Ask created the second house by renovating a dilapidated shed on site that was once used to store tools.

Surfaces throughout are instead covered in deep-purple stucco, a hue that the studio thought was more akin to the dark, glossy topside of an olive leaf.

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

The structure was initially deemed too narrow to hold cooking facilities but the studio ended up carving a wide opening into one of its 60-centimetre-thick walls, which is able to accommodate a chunky prep counter and a sink.

Guests will also have access to two gas burners and a wood-fire oven – water, like that used to service the shower and sink in the first house, is sourced from a nearby spring. This house also includes a toilet.

The Olive Houses in Mallorca designed by Mar Plus Ask

Mar Plus Ask was established in 2015 and works between offices in Copenhagen, Berlin, Mallorca and Valencia.

The studio's Olive Houses project isn't the only place where creatives can go to clear their heads. Back in 2016, Andrea Zittel launched Wagon Station Encampment – a campsite near Joshua Tree Park, California, where artists and writers are allowed to play out their "desert fantasy".

The site includes 10 sleeping pods, a communal outdoor kitchen and open-air showers.

Photography is by Piet Albert Goethals.

The post The Olive Houses are off-grid retreats hidden in Mallorca's mountains appeared first on Dezeen.



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Extraset is a new Swiss foundry bringing together four leading type designers under one name

The new foundry sees Alex Dujet of Futur Neue, Xavier Erni of Neo Neo, Roger Gaillard of Cecile Roger and David Mamie of Todeschini Mamie formalise a long-standing collaboration.



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Ava DuVernay presents Say My Name, two art exhibitions honouring influential figures and moments in Black history

Curated by Khalil Akar for Signature African Art gallery, the two shows in London and LA aim to connect African artists with diasporic histories in Europe and America.



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Secret 7” unveils 2020 artworks by Jeremy Deller, Lubaina Himid, Michel Gondry and lots more

For the first time, fans can view all 700 sleeves online ahead of the auction, which will also be entirely virtual this year.



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Zaha Hadid Architects reveals design of Moscow metro station

Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 on Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line in Moscow by Zaha Hadid Architects 

UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled its design for the Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2, which is being built in the south of Moscow as part of the expansion of the city's metro system.

The station in the Nagatinsky Zaton district forms part of Moscow's new Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line, which translates as Large Circle Line, that is currently under construction.

Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 on Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line in Moscow by Zaha Hadid Architects 

Set to be built at the intersection of Klenoviy Boulevard and Kolomenskaya Street in the south of the city near the Moscow River, the station will serve as an interchange between the Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line and the planned Biryulevskaya Line.

The station is also position to provide access to the riverside Kolomenskoye park, which contains several palaces and a UNESCO World Heritage-listed church.

Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 on Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line in Moscow by Zaha Hadid Architects 

Visuals released by Zaha Hadid Architects show two above-ground pavilions that will provide access to the ticket halls and platforms below ground.

Each of the pavilions has a roof that rises up from the stairs to cover the buildings. Glass walls will enclose the metro station entrances.

Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 on Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line in Moscow by Zaha Hadid Architects 

Within the station, a series of columns will be used to help direct traffic, while columns along the platform edge will be spaced to communicate where the centre of the platform is.

"A series of columns on the station's platforms are shaped to express instances of the same form being marginally distorted as it moves through space, with each column being a slight variation in the form to signify its distance from the centre of the platform," said the studio.

"The columns are developed as 'arrows' that direct passengers and also integrate lines of light on the ceiling and the floors to provide way-finding, functional lighting and signify platform edges."

Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 on Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line in Moscow by Zaha Hadid Architects 

A system of linear lighting will be used to help direct passengers with lighting conditions adjusted to warn passengers of the arrival of a train.

"Providing intuitive navigation throughout, the design incorporates new innovations in lighting and passenger information systems to define the next generation of stations on Moscow's renowned metro system," added the studio.

Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 on Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line in Moscow by Zaha Hadid Architects 

Zaha Hadid Architects is one of the world's best-known architecture studios. Founded by the late Zaha Hadid in 1980 the studio is now lead by Patrik Schumacher.

Recent transport projects from the studio include a high-speed train station in Tallinn, and a collaboration with A-Lab to design two stations on Oslo's new metro line.


Project credits:

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
ZHA design director: Christos Passas
ZHA Team: Anna Uborevic-Borovskaya, Mihai-Dragos Potra, Alex Turner, Liudmila Harrison-Jones
Consortium members: Systematica, Krost, Metropolis Group, Rider Levett Bucknall
Lighting design: Arup Lighting (Giulio Antonutto, Pavlina Akritas)

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