Thursday 23 December 2021

KS Arquitetos completes stilted Mirador House overlooking Brazil's Lake Guaíba

Casa Mirador

Brazilian studio KS Arquitetos has designed a home in Porto Alegre that is elevated on stilts so that it peers over the treetops and out onto Lake Guaíba.

Mirador House was built on a steep slope overlooking Lake Guaíba, a waterway in southern Brazil.

Mirador House by KS Arquitetos
Mirador House overlooks Brazil's Lake Guaíba

To accommodate this terrain, KS Arquitetos built the house on steel stilts.

"The concept of Mirador House arises from the idea of a house that floats at the level of the top of the surrounding trees," said the studio, which is based locally.

House on stilts
The property was built on stilts above a concrete music rehearsal studio

Two volumes form the narrow house and are connected by an elevated catwalk for convenience.

The first, closest to the street, contains the garage above a storage room, while the other contains the resident's living spaces. Altogether, the house encompasses 850 square metres.

Black steel staircase
A black steel staircase leads to the main living space

A long ramp leads down two levels from the street onto a covered patio envisioned as the home's main outdoor gathering space.

"This route leads first to the atrium, a large space under the social area which reveals an incredible view," said KS Arquitetos. "From there it is possible to access the house, or continue down through the trees towards a secret beach, where a strip of sand and rocks touch the Guaíba."

Open-concept kitchen
Mirador House features an open-concept kitchen

A black steel staircase leads from this covered area into an open-concept kitchen, living and dining room that occupies the entire breadth of the second volume.

Tucked away from the living area is a home office, which overlooks the ramp down into the home.

Full-height glass doors can slide open in good weather

Within this space, KS Arquitetos used a stark palette that includes the black-painted structural steel, exposed breeze blocks, and wood floors.

Towards the views, a full-height glass wall can slide open in good weather.

"The large openings of the residence are like frames for the landscape," said KS Arquitetos. "When the windows overlooking the lake are open, the sound of silence is only interrupted by the chirp of birds."

On the top floor are four bedrooms, each with an ensuite. This level is at the same elevation as the garage, providing a secondary access route into the home.

Bedroom by KS Arquitetos
Bedrooms are located on the top floor

From the main outdoor space underneath the home, another flight of stairs leads to a room built partially into the site's slope, which is used as a music studio.

This exposed concrete volume stands out from the rest of the structure, in addition to providing some separation between the rehearsal space and the rest of the family.

Home in Porto Alegre
The home is elevated above the tropical vegetation

Other homes in the city of Porto Alegre include a house that was laid out to accommodate a centennial fig tree and a duplex loft with a sculptural black staircase at its centre.

The photography is by Roberta Gewehr.

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Balenciaga's Berlin store features in today's Dezeen Weekly newsletter

Balenciaga's Berlin store

The latest edition of our Dezeen Weekly newsletter features Balenciaga's first Berlin retail space, which pays tribute to the city's modernist architecture.

Continuing the brand's raw architecture aesthetic, the store's monolithic concrete interior contrasts with the grade II-listed neoclassical building in which it is housed. Commenters are divided over the design, with one likening it to a "large city's sewer system".

The newsletter also included the news that two of the UK's leading architects – high-tech architecture pioneer Richard Rogers and WilkinsonEyre co-founder Chris Wilkinson – passed away this week.

Tree inside The Greenery

Other stories in this week's newsletter include a nature-filled Italian farmhouse by Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota, a mixed-use high-rise in the Netherlands designed by MVRDV and our round up of the 10 most impressive British architecture projects featured on Dezeen this year.

Subscribe to Dezeen Weekly

Dezeen Weekly is a curated newsletter that is sent every Thursday, containing highlights from Dezeen. Dezeen Weekly subscribers will also receive occasional updates about events, competitions and breaking news.

Read the latest edition of Dezeen Weekly. You can also subscribe to Dezeen Daily, our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours.

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Room2 opens "world's first whole-life net-zero hotel" in Chiswick

Courtyard of Room2 Chiswick designed by Project Orange

Hospitality brand Room2 has opened what it claims is the first hotel to reach net-zero emissions across its entire lifespan from construction to demolition.

Designed by architecture studio Project Orange, the new build is located in the west London area of Chiswick and features 86 rooms powered by solar panels and ground source heat pumps, with interior fit-outs made locally from FSC-certified timber.

The project follows a recent pledge that the Lemington Group, which owns Room2, will only construct and operate net-zero carbon buildings by 2030.

Hotel room with wooden kitchenette, pink walls and colourful throw over double bed
Room2 Chiswick (top image) has 86 rooms (above)

The Chiswick outpost is the debut hotel to be completed as part of this decarbonisation strategy, which the company describes as an "industry first".

Room2 says it worked to reduce both the hotel's operational and embodied emissions, ultimately amounting to an estimated carbon footprint of 10,800 tonnes over the building's 60-year lifespan.

These emissions were offset by investing in a verified bamboo afforestation programme in Nicaragua, which Room2 says makes the project the "world's first whole-life net-zero hotel".

Architects not involved in final calculations

However, Project Orange partner James Soane told Dezeen that his firm was not consulted on the final whole-life carbon assessment for the "allegedly" net-zero building.

"I'm going to be quite honest with you, I haven't seen the final calculations because we weren't involved in the interior fit-out," he said.

According to Soane, when the building was designed in 2016, it was only meant to achieve the second-best BREEAM rating of "excellent" rather than aiming for net-zero from the get-go.

Consequently, the final design focuses much more heavily on operational emissions than on the embodied carbon footprint from materials and construction.

Hotel room with baby blue walls and wooden bench in foreground
Freestanding wooden furnishings were manufactured within a 10-mile radius of the hotel

Thorough insulation, energy-efficient appliances and lighting activated by motion sensors allow the building to use 89 per cent less energy per square metre than a typical UK hotel.

And all of the energy needed for heating and cooling is provided by the hotel's own rooftop photovoltaics as well as the heat pumps that were tunnelled into the ground below the building to draw warmth from the earth into the interior.

But embodied carbon reductions were only prioritised once the building was nearing completion, by using reclaimed and recycled materials across furniture, equipment and finishes "when possible" and making freestanding furnishings from certified wood within a ten-mile radius of the hotel.

As a result, the final building has an embodied carbon footprint of 765 kilograms per square metre, which is significantly above the 500-kilogram target that Room2 is setting for its future projects.

"Moving forward, new buildings will be assessed before construction and the process will look to reduce embodied carbon throughout the building's design stages," said Room2's sustainability manager Chantal Beaudoin.

"For example, Room2 Belfast will be using GGBS [ground granulated blast furnace slag] as a low-carbon cement alternative and its upfront embodied carbon is estimated to be 582 kilograms of CO2e per square metre, getting us closer to our overall target."

Net-zero assessment omits visitor travel

Ultimately, the Chiswick hotel cannot be considered net-zero in the strictest sense, as its embodied emissions were not reduced from the start and to the maximum extent.

In addition, its carbon calculations do not take into account so-called scope 3 emissions from guest travel, which at 1,672 tons account for nearly half of the Lemington Group's annual carbon footprint.

The company has not set any concrete reduction goals related to travel emissions and is instead placing responsibility onto visitors themselves.

"We believe to be the first hotel chain to track and report on guests' travel to our properties," Beaudoin said.

"We are encouraging guests to consider sustainable travel options and are working towards offering our guests the opportunity to offset their travel emissions starting in 2022."

Brick exterior of Room2 Chiswick by Project Orange
The hotel is located in London's Chiswick

According to the definition set out as part of the UN's Race to Zero campaign, reaching net-zero requires reducing emissions to the lowest possible level before reaching for offsets in the form of carbon removal schemes.

This involves tackling all three emissions scopes, including scope 1 and 2 emissions generated by a company itself and its purchased electricity, steam and heat, as well as indirect scope 3 emissions caused by customers when purchasing its goods or services.

A growing number of companies have committed themselves to reaching net-zero in line with the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, including Dezeen alongside furnituremaker Takt and refillable cosmetics company Forgo.

McDonald's, which is aiming to reach net-zero by 2050, announced earlier this month that it had completed the "UK's first net-zero restaurant" but failed to take into account the consumption-based emissions associated with its beef-heavy menu.

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Mario Cucinella Architects creates "serene and monolithic" church in Italian hill top town

anta Maria Goretti Church by Mario Cucinella Architects

Bologna-based Mario Cucinella Architects has created the concrete Santa Maria Goretti Church, which incorporates a cross-shaped entrance, in the town of Mormanno, southern Italy.

Built overlooking the mountainous Pollino National Park, the modern church stands at the edge of the hilltop town of Mormanno.

Santa Maria Goretti Church
Santa Maria Goretti Church was built on the edge of Mormanno

Mario Cucinella Architects aimed to design a building that was both contemporary and connected to the local community.

"We wanted to create a contemporary building that expresses a strong sense of continuity as we felt for a church, in particular, this sense of connection is important," said Mario Cucinella Architects founder Mario Cucinella.

Concrete church with mountain views
It has views over the surrounding mountains

The concrete church is surrounded by curving white walls that surround the four-leaf clover-shaped main auditorium.

According to the studio, this form was derived from reinterpreting the shape of Baroque churches in the Calabria region of Italy.

Cross-shaped entrance to church
The church entrance incorporates a cross

"Our design for Santa Maria Goretti is serene and monolithic and looks at local precedents of Calabrian ecclesiastical architecture, but also natural forms in a way that is perhaps primeval or timeless," Cucinella told Dezeen.

"We looked at Baroque precedents in Italy, like San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Borromini, and the way these embody ritual."

In part to make the purpose of the contemporary building clear, the church's main entrance forms the upright beam in a cross that is illuminated at night.

"The church is entered through a cross-shaped incision that is lit up at night and becomes a beacon for the building," explained Cucinella.

Main auditorium of Santa Maria Goretti Church
The main auditorium has largely bare walls

Inside, the church's main auditorium walls were left bare to highlight "the architectural and sculptural form of the building".

The studio designed simple stone furniture that can be rearranged depending on the space's use, while folds of translucent fabric were hung from the 16-metre-high ceiling.

"We designed simple furniture for the interior that highlights the architectural and sculptural form of the building and also allows the congregation to focus on the symbolism of the artworks and the play of light created through the fabric that hangs from the ceiling," added Cucinella.

Main auditorium church
Translucent fabric hangs from the high ceiling

The studio also created a single storey parish centre alongside the church.

Topped with a green roof, this building contains a parish hall, several classrooms and a residence for the clergy.

Green roof-covered parish hall in Italy
A parish hall was built alongside the church

Recent contemporary religious buildings published on Dezeen include a minimalist chapel in northern Mexico made from travertine and concrete and an open-sided church in Bogotá designed to allow people to worship during the pandemic.

The photography is by Mario Cucinella Visual.


Projects credits:

Client: Diocesi of Cassano all'Jonio
Architecture: Mario Cucinella Architects
Architectural Project Group: Mario Cucinella (founder and creative director), Luca Sandri (project manager)
Competition: Alberto Bruno, Alberto Casarotto
Final project – executive: Emanuele Dionigi, Enrico Pintabona, Michele Roveri
Virtual model / images: Mario Cucinella Visual
Physical model: Mario Cucinella Architects
Artist: Giuseppe Maraniello
Liturgist: Don Amilcare Zuffi
Structural engineer: Milan Engineering
Plant design: Paolo Scuderi, Riccardo Giannoni
Works manager: Arch. Gaetano Leto
Project manager: Raffaele Boise

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Dezeen's top 10 rebrands of 2021

Burger King logo evolution

Continuing our 2021 review, Dezeen looks back on a year of high-profile rebrands including Facebook changing its name to Meta and Volvo adopting a flat logo.


Peugeot Lion logo

Peugeot by Peugeot Design Lab

The first of three car manufacturers to feature in this list is French brand, Peugeot. This year, the company released a new version of its logo for the first time in a decade to mark a new era of building electric vehicles.

As with every version of Peugeot's logo since 1847, the lion is still central to the design: a stylised head with mane sits in the middle of a shield emblazoned with the brand's name. However, unlike the previous logo, the design no longer includes the lion's body.

Find out more about the Peugeot rebrand ›


Burger King new logo

Burger King by Jones Knowles Ritchie

Twenty years on from the last Burger King logo revamp, the American fast-food restaurant rebranded this year with new packaging, uniforms and a logo.

Its new visual identity harks back to the flat logo used by the brand in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The chain hopes that the restyle "pays homage to the brand's heritage with a refined design that's confident, simple and fun."

Find out more about Burger King's rebrand ›


Blue infinity logo for Meta

Meta by Meta

The parent company of social media giant Facebook changed its name and logo to Meta in a move that propelled the brand further into the direction of the metaverse.

This new name, which translates to "beyond" in Greek, is often associated with possibility and the future. It appears along with the new infinity loop logo within all apps owned by the company including Whatsapp, Instagram and Messenger.

Find out more about Meta's rebrand ›


CIA logo redesign

CIA by unknown

America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) unveiled a new brand identity in January with a new logo and an updated website designed to attract a more diverse employee base.

The CIA website now has a clean, sans-serif typeface as well as a new circular logo with a background of fractal lines. A border formed of the words Central Intelligence Agency frames the design. In true espionage fashion, the agency refused to disclose the designer behind its new look.

Find out more about the CIA rebrand ›


Pentagram's brand identity for The Moholy-Nagy Foundation

The Moholy-Nagy Foundation by Pentagram

Design consultancy Pentagram created new monochrome branding for The Moholy-Nagy Foundation, an organisation that aims to preserve the legacy of renowned artist László Moholy-Nagy.

Pentagram partner Marina Willer and her team were asked to design an "expressive" visual identity that embodies the style and methods used by the artist such as his photograms – images made by laying objects onto photographic paper and exposing it to light.

Find out more about The Moholy-Nagy Foundation rebrand › 


White House logo redesign by Wide Eye

The White House by Wide Eye

Creative agency Wide Eye updated the White House logo after Republican president Donald Trump left office. The updated design, which is a slightly more detailed and architectural depiction of the White House, was intended to convey Joe Biden's "desire to bring the country together" following a tumultuous few years.

"This is symbolic of the president's desire to bring the country together: conveying a sense of openness, warmth, inclusion, and humanity," explained the agency.

Find out more about The White House rebrand ›


MIDI logo by Pentagram

MIDI, by Pentagram

Pentagram makes this list again with its brand identity for Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), the global standard that allows digital musical instruments to talk to each other.

Yuri Suzuki, a musician and Pentagram partner, worked with the graphic designer and partner Sascha Lobe on the update. The logo, which looks like an abstract letter M, replaces its previous wordmark and follows the 2020 release of MIDI 2.0, the first major update of the standard in over 35 years.

Find out more about MIDI's rebrand ›


A black circular Volvo logo with an arrow

Volvo by Volvo

Swedish carmaker Volvo joined BMW, MINI and Volkswagen in officially replacing its three-dimensional emblem with a flat, two-dimensional version. It bears a resemblance to other two-dimensional logos created by automotive brands looking to adapt their visual identity to an increasingly digital world.

The company believes that the flat, less colourful logo is a more "modern" reinterpretation of its longstanding Iron Mark logo. It still retains the same circular shape and upward-pointing arrow first used by the brand in 1927.

Find out more about Volvo's rebrand ›


INter Milan logo redesign

Inter Milan by Bureau Borsche

Graphic design studio Bureau Borsche redesigned the logo for Italian football club Inter Milan as part of an effort to promote the club beyond sport.

The studio updated the original logo designed by painter Giorgio Muggiani in 1908 by producing a simplified crest and removing the letters FC, which stand for football club.

Find out more about the Inter Milan rebrand ›


General Motors logo redesign 2021

General Motors by General Motors

An eye-catching bright blue and a softer border was used to modernise the logo of American automotive company General Motors. The firm's old logo, which had thick white letters superimposed onto a navy background, had remained largely the same since 1964.

The redesign is part of the company's pivot towards electric vehicles and "a zero-emissions future".

Find out more about the General Motors rebrand ›

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