Thursday 30 September 2021

Nine wooden cabins from Lake Annecy Cabin Festival

A wooden cabin perched over a lake

Festival organiser Philippe Burguet picks nine of his favourite wooden structures from this year's Cabin Festival, including a Japanese-style cabin and a playful teepee-shaped cabin with a swinging hammock.

The Cabin Festival is held annually around Lake Annecy, a preserved area in Haute-Savoie, France that is internationally renowned for its scenic landscape and high water quality.

For this year's event, the organisers put out an open call for cabin designs around the themes of territory and settlement.

Entrants were asked to create a cabin made from wood that measures less than six square metres overall. They were also required to construct the cabins from wood types found in the surrounding Savoyard forests.

The winning cabins float, perch and balance on stilts or are hidden between the trees in the nearby forest.

"The hut as a built building represents only a point of view, a milestone, a punctuation mark, a landmark that gives the stroller the opportunity to be located within a larger landscape," Burguet told Dezeen.

"It is the camera focused on a chosen point of view," he added.

Read below for Burguet's selection of stand-out cabins from this year's festival:


Onna–Ji by Iris Jacquard and Maud Laronze

"Delicately placed on its site, it melts into the vertical matrix of the forest, with its structure inspired by Japanese temples. Ropes stretched in hemp tend to sketch at first a closed volume, then as the approach progresses, the ropes open up to let the landscape show through. The boundary between interior and exterior is blurred.

"Onna-Ji is a small sanctuary that calls for an introspective journey. The walker is invited to enter the interior and sit facing nature."


Les Voisins by Julien Fajardo and Vincent Brédif

"This project is a perfect example of a good understanding of the context. Hidden between the trees, virtually invisible, it feels like it has belonged in this landscape forever.

"Its leaning structure disappears in the multiple lines drawn by the trees. Its sculptural design creates a fragile balance that makes it gently swing whenever someone decides to climb on it. Its movements resemble the flexibility of the trees.

"Climbing on it becomes a playful game, in which you have to reconnect with your childish confidence to beat your fear of falling. This is architecture with a strong narrative that allows movement and flexibility to create a complete experience of discovering."


Clant by Tristan Narcy and Arthur Lemaire

"This intervention cleverly uses parts of the site to integrate itself into its landscape. A simple structure built detached from the ground is dressed up with driftwood picked up from the riverbed.

"The numerous branches hanging from the roof create the sensation of a full and floating volume from the outside, hiding the void remaining in the heart of the cabin. Walking inside requires weaving in and out between the curtain of driftwood, filling the space with the sound of its encounter.

"This shelter is an invitation to focus on the sounds of the site – the murmur of the river, the birdsongs, the rustling of the trees – creating and integrating its own sound in this place."


Le Banquet du Belvedere by Takumi Goto and Austeja Judzentyte

"This project grows roots in an existing use of the place: meeting, gathering, appreciating the beauty of the view. The materiality of the hay wall offers an invitation to animals to join the meeting.

"The cabin creates two distinct, opposite spaces. Inside, the closed and protected space makes you feel safe and at home. The open space at the top is where we feel more vulnerable, enabling a new understanding of the reality of the void next to the lookout point."


L'Oratoire de la Chaise by Alice Delattre and José Roldan Ballesteros 

"This project proposes a definition of a cabin as a simple roof. This essential, sober, and simple approach creates a space defined by a slender and sharp roof standing above ground on thin pillars.

"From a close distance, the entrance of the shelter is quite low, and the visitor must bend down to enter. This effort brings the body closer to the ground, creating a new perspective to admire the river."


Mille Lieux (°) by Eric Gendre and Vincent Bernet Rollande

"The constructive principle of this hut takes birth in the imagination of childhood. A simple rope stretched between two trees constitutes the primary framework that supports a series of wooden slats. The weight of the slats naturally deforms the rope to give it a beautiful sensual curve inviting the visitor to discover its interior.

"Enter in this place, lie down in the hammock, let your senses carry you and abandon yourself to a little nap."


Champs du Vent by Philippe Paumelle and Anna Marin

"The project is inspired by the wind that blows through the leaves of the tree.

"A true architectural reinterpretation of the figure of the tree, the trunk is the main frame and the branches are the secondary one. In true craftsmanship, the 'tavaillons' – a material local to the region –  are sewn by hand onto the branches to allow the wind to give this architecture life.

"The curious lift the wooden sheets and observe the landscape as if through a keyhole. An opening frames the church tower, which also rings. If you look up, you can see the shadowy lines that pass through the wooden foliage."


Le Clocher by Julie Boirin, Anouck Jacquet, Anaïs Jeantils, Eléonore Mougel and Marine Pigal

"The light wood structure draws its shape from far away. Its thin structure and elegant proportions perfectly integrate in the raw panorama. It stands in the fields, ringing its bells in concert with the cows grazing around. The strength of the project lies in its simplicity and absence of superfluous."


L'Ombre by Samuel Thibault de Chanvalon, Pierre Fortunel, Maël Garnery and Thibaut Servier

"As its name suggests, it is to the colour shade that this construction celebrates. The two openings create a shadow in which the visitor merges, which he crosses to finally find the light."

Photography is by David Foessel.


Le Festival des Cabanes 2021 is open until November. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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Wednesday 29 September 2021

Snøhetta organises Pangaea co-working space in Tokyo around "super furniture"

Wooden super furniture in Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage

Huge ribbons of wood provide desk surfaces in this co-working space in Tokyo, created by architecture firm Snøhetta for Japanese tech company Digital Garage.

Snøhetta developed both the interior design and the visual identity for Digital Garage's new co-working brand, Pangaea.

Wooden super furniture in Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage
The wooden furniture is made from Japanese cedar

The company plans to open workspaces in its various office locations around the world.

However this one, located on the 10th floor of a new building complex in Shibuya, will serve as the testbed for ideas.

Lighting in Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage
It incorporates desks, seating area and a reception desk

The name, Pangaea, was the starting point for the design – Pangaea was a supercontinent during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic era that broke up to create today's continents.

Digital Garage wanted to create a space that encourages people of different cultures and backgrounds to come together and collaborate.

"As a boutique office space for digital nomads, the space commemorates a time and place where geographical, political, and national constructs were not an obstacle," said Snøhetta.

Desks and seating in Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage
Overhead, 534 hanging lights create undulating patterns

This concept led the designers to fill the space with "super furniture", rather than adding individual tables or desks.

Two large wooden objects curve through the entire space, serving various different functions. They incorporate both seating areas and surfaces, so they can be used by numerous people simultaneously.

Wooden super furniture in Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage
The wooden furniture gives the room a natural scent

"Constructed as a metaphor for both tactility and fluidity, the super furniture encompasses all core functions of a co-working space: a reception, an amphitheater, phone booths, meeting spaces and individual workspaces," said Snøhetta.

"The furniture also prompts its users towards a greater vision through daily interactions with the co-working space and one another."

Reception desk in Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage
The co-working space in located on the 10th floor of a building in Shibuya

Both elements are crafted from Japanese cedar, a material chosen to give the room a natural scent.

Otherwise, the room is kept very simple, with only a few other furniture elements. Seating is provided by chairs and stools that match the dark tone of the flooring, while 534 suspended light bulbs give a topography to the ceiling.

The space is framed by linoleum-fronted cabinets and acoustic textile wall panels, which together create an abstract image of Mount Fuji as a backdrop.

Exterior of Pangaea co-working by Snøhetta for Digital Garage
It is the first of several Pangaea spaces planned

While Snøhetta is best known for its architecture projects, which include an underwater restaurant and the Oslo Opera House, the firm has worked on numerous interior design and branding projects in recent years.

Other examples include physical and digital retail spaces for fashion label Holzweiler and Oslo pop-up A Better Place to Think.

For Pangaea, the studio also designed a set of logos that are used on the facade, for signage and wayfinding inside the building and on the website.

Photography is by Nacasa & Partners.

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BLUE Architecture adds rectangular coffee shop to red brick building in China

1402 coffee shop in Aranya

Beijing-based BLUE Architecture Studio has inserted a rectangular volume down the middle of an existing building in China to form a cafe that juxtaposes old and new.

1402 Coffee Shop is a cafe in the Aranya community, which is located in Changli County in China's Hebei Province.

Coffee shop in Aranya from the outside
1402 Coffee Shop was inserted into an existing building

BLUE Architecture Studio renovated an existing one-storey red brick building with a sloped roof by adding a boxy rectangular volume to the inside of the building, which forms the coffee shop.

The volume is flanked by large glass windows, which include folding sections that open out at each end and connect the interior to its surroundings.

BLUE inserted a rectangular volume to an existing red brick
Folding windows open either side of the new addition

"We wanted to create a new space in the existing space," BLUE told Dezeen. "Part of the new box comes out of the existing facade and becomes the attraction of the cafe."

According to BLUE, the studio's design process involved working out how to combine the necessary functions of the cafe into the rectangular volume, such as a seating area, a bar and a kitchen.

The cafe is designed to be social
BLUE Architecture aimed to fit all of the cafe's functions within the rectangular volume

"The indoor corridor is like small lanes of a city with benches on each side," said the studio. "You can sit on the couch, buy coffee at the bar, browse small products and chat with the coffee makers."

"It's very much like taking a casual walk on a little street. We want the interior to be an extension of the Aranya community. Streets and a nearby square are all visible from inside the cafe through big folding glass windows," continued BLUE.

Solid oak interiors
Alcoves form seating areas for customers

Dagu cement, a traditional Chinese material, was used to form the rectangular volume, which complements the light grey exposed aggregate concrete floors that surround it.

Solid oak is the primary material in the cafe's interior, while stainless steel seats are scattered around the outdoor area, which was also designed as part of the project.

Made up of four sections, this seating area includes large planters that are positioned between minimal blocky tables and bars, which enhance 1402's more contemporary elements.

Outdoor seating area with blocky furniture
An outdoor seating area was also created as part of the project

BLUE explained that the aim of the coffee shop is not to merge old and new architecture together. Rather, the studio hopes that the project highlights differences between the rectangular volume and the existing red brick building, which was built between five and six years ago.

"We created the rectangular volume in an abstract form to contrast with the building's existing sloped roof," said the studio.

1402 was designed in colours similar to the existing red brick
The architects aimed to contrast old and new architecture

Despite these contrasts, BLUE sought to blend the coffee shop with the appearance of the Aranya community by choosing a neutral colour palette similar to the red brick structure.

BLUE Architecture Studio was founded in 2014 by Japanese architects Yoko Fujii and Shuhei Aoyama. Similar projects by the firm include the addition of a U-shaped glass box to a Shanghai coffee shop.

The photography is by Zhi Xia

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KPF unveils Burrard Exchange in Vancouver as its first mass-timber building

Burrard Exchange timber office tower interior

A hybrid mass-timber office building slated for Vancouver will become architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox's first timber project, and one of the tallest of its type in North America.

The Burrard Exchange will be developed as part of the Bentall Centre, a 1.5 million-square-foot (140,000-square-metre) business campus in Downtown Vancouver owned by Hudson Pacific Properties.

The same company is behind this new addition, which will create further office and retail spaces within a 16-storey, hybrid mass-timber tower.

Flexible office space inside Burrard Exchange
The timber structure of Burrard Exchange will be exposed throughout its office spaces

Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), with the Vancouver studio of Adamson Associates Architects acting as the architect of record, the building is planned to showcase its timber structure.

"KPF's innovative design utilizes mass timber, typically reserved for low-rise structures, to create a state-of-the-art green office tower, reducing the building's embodied carbon," said the firm.

"The mass timber is also a key design feature, intended to be unencapsulated and visible, highlighting and celebrating the project's sustainable aspirations."

Exposed beams and columns will run throughout the interiors, which will be naturally illuminated by 14.5-foot (4.4-metre), floor-to-ceiling glazing around the perimeter.

Open-plan, flexible floor plates will each measure 30,000 square feet, while terraces on half of the building's levels will allow occupants to enjoy outdoor spaces and easy access to fresh air.

A rooftop deck will also provide a conference area, meeting spaces and outdoor seating exclusively for tenant use.

Burrard Exchange exterior rendering
The 16-storey tower will form part of the Bentall Centre campus in Downtown Vancouver

At ground level, a new public plaza will create one of the largest outdoor gathering places in the area, while the building's lobby will connect to the Bentall Centre's below-grade shops.

Construction on Burrard Exchange is currently scheduled to begin early 2023, becoming the latest in a series of improvements to the Bentall Centre. These have included upgraded public spaces, additional arts and culture offerings, and enhanced tenant amenities.

Vancouver has seen a spate of proposals for hybrid mass-timber towers in recent years, including for a mixed-use high-rise by Perkins+Will and a pair of sculptural towers by Heatherwick Studio.

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BIG and Castro Group plan "urban fashion village" with hill-like roof

Fuse Valley has rooftop gardens

Architecture practice BIG and developer Castro Group have unveiled designs for the Fuse Valley development in Porto, which will house the headquarters of luxury fashion platform Farfetch.

Located on the slopes of the Leça River, in the northern area of Porto, Portugal, Fuse Valley will contain Farfetch's headquarters within 12 interconnected buildings.

Buildings at Fuse Valley have sloped roofs and taper at the base
Top: the Fuse Valley development will be home to Farfetch and a number of technology companies. Above: the buildings will have an angular form

The whole site, described as an "urban fashion village," will be designed by BIG and have 24 buildings in total, with the additional buildings set to house other tech and startup companies.

The 178,000 square-metre Fuse Valley development will feature buildings organised in a checkerboard formation and oriented around landscaped parks, courtyards, gardens and plazas.

The structures have an angular design that looks to mimic the surrounding hillside landscape, with hill-like peaks and valleys created through sloped green roofs.

The buildings slope over walkways
Pathways at Fuse Valley are widened by tapering walls

The exterior walls of the office buildings are similarly sloped, with gridded, chamfered facades tapering to ground level in order to widen public paths and create canopies over walkways.

BIG incorporated outdoor paths to lead visitors around the community village and up onto the sloped-roofed offices, creating an extension of the surrounding hillside.

"The individual buildings that constitute the various elements of the organization are connected to form large contiguous work environments – physically consolidated, but spatially varied to create a human-scale experience," said BIG partner João Albuquerque.

A sunken amphitheatre was built into the site's gardens
Garden paths lead visitors and employees around the site to outdoor amphitheatres and garden roofs

Farfetch's headquarters will occupy half of Fuse Valley's site, with offices tailored to suit a number of different functions.

Alongside the headquarters, an "urban alley" by its eastern, river-facing side will house an auditorium, a canteen and wellness facilities.

"Rather than a corporate office complex, Farfetch’s future home in Fuse Valley will be a lively urban ensemble bringing every curator, creator, customer and collaborator together in the most innovative new neighbourhood of the city," said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.

"The urban fabric will allow Fuse Valley to grow and expand organically, like a natural village."

A garden was placed on top of the sloped roof at Fuse Valley
The roof becomes an extension of the hillside with paths leading people across the sloped roof

Open-plan spaces will provide employees with flexible work areas, with added terraces to extend interior spaces to the outdoors.

The top levels of the building will form "atelier-like attics" with the sloping roofline creating triple-height spaces that taper out to the terraces.

The interior of Fuse Valley has a bright and airy look
Full-height windows on each level will connect the interior with the outdoors

"What we are going to do in Matosinhos is something unique and that puts this space on the international map of what is best done both in terms of sustainability and in terms of innovation," said Castro Group CEO Paulo Castro.

"With this project, we intend to develop a smart city, or in this case, a smart valley."

Fuse Valley is set to break ground in early 2023 and is hoped to officially open in 2025.

Trees and planters will be placed inside offices
The interior looks to provide a biophilic environment for employees

Recently BIG broke ground on CityWave, a building with a sweeping roof that doubles as a photovoltaic power station and aims to visually connect Milan's CityLife development.

BIG also unveiled a spiralling double-helix viewing tower in Denmark earlier this year.

Images are courtesy of BIG.

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