Acciaio Arte Architettura | English Version

We are presenting two projects which represent the work of an international architectural firm, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects,and more precisely the work of Tom Kundig, a partner-architect of this company. Highlighting the careful approach of the architect in analysing the context of how he manages the design of a new building or renovation of a historical one. As well as discussing his creativity in dealing with space, play with light and shade and a range of a few highly selected materials and the skills of an expert designer who truly enjoys his work.

The care paid to detail is really surprising,for example the meticulous study of the movement mechanisms of the components; concentrating on the dimension of ‘play’ of the moveable parts in the different spaces, changing the views as the day passes, all in tune with the various different uses of the surroundings. ‘Play’ which is never left to chance, rather it shows the naturalness that is the result of patient study and research, like that of the work on the ‘Delta Shelter’ cabin.

In effect it is a shelter cabin situated in the beautiful wooded area near to the Mazama River (a nature area within the eastern part of the State of Washington). It is this vicinity to the river and the seasonal flooding on the surrounding lands that lead the development of the idea to build the house on a raised steel structure, like a pile-dwelling.

As the house is only used for short holiday periods, it required an easy and safe closing system for the time of non-use. This refuge for body and mind can be compared to a mountain track; the panoramic belvedere on the top gives the all round view of the surrounding landscape and the floors and intermediate terraces give momentary rest points on the way up to the top.

The day and night areas have been inverted with respect to the norm, where the bedrooms are on the top floor; here the lounge is on the top floor and constantly lit by the light that flows in from the upper glazed band which crowns the roof. The steel frame sliding doors simultaneously close the glazed walls.

Given the hard to reach position where the house has been built, the whole bearing frame for the structure had to be easily assembled on site, without requiring any subsequent surface finishes; the steel parts have been left natural, and the natural oxidation process of time will gradually change their colour and finish.

The movement mechanism for the four large façade panels was designed by Tom Kundig and engineered and fabricated by Phil Turner, and recalls the precision opening mechanisms used in historic industrial buildings, the perfect tribute to the magnificent applications of Pierre Chareau in the Maison de Verre (Paris 1927). The panels are hung onto the steel frame of the building, and the movement counterbalance is given by the simultaneous sliding action of the panels, which are driven by a single manual handle system and force reducers.

“Steel in movement” the renovation of the interiors of historic Washington Shoe Building in the Pioneer Square Historic District of Seattle, which is the new headquarters for the architectural firm, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects. The work respects and gives value to the original industrial nature of the building; from the forge of parts and

ideas, leaving the mechanical parts and plant on show, in the same way that the ‘new traces’ are on show for the design ideas, the meeting and creativity rooms and the office areas. The new components fit in quietly, almost hushed yet are clearly identifiable, respecting the historic patina of the early 20th century building; the separation between the original walls and the new bearing structure is clearly seen in the stairway and central corridors.

Sustainable ideas were explored through an innovative natural ventilation strategy (skylight and open stair to create a chimney effect). A window in the roof measuring 6 x 4.5 meters, weighing approx. 6 tons with a strong steel outer frame and hydraulic piston opening, like a large moving sculpture, giving air exchange up the double height room. The hydraulic piston of this sky-door is operated using only city water pressure.

Kundig’s obvious interest in the kinetics of architecture has not happened overnight, as he recently indicated in an interview with AIArchitect (the newsletter of the American Institute of Architects), “I spent years climbing mountains and worked for a sculptor and did things that were not a direct line to architecture, but I think everything I did has a lot to do with my architecture.

When I work on things, I bring that experience and history to the work, and it affects and brings a personal resonance to it. I think that’s the spirit of really great architecture.You have to be comfortable that you have a personal vision and voice in the work you do.”

Teresa Van Ert, Marina Cescon

Acciaio Arte Architettura n.30

Commenti disabilitati

When a window and doorframe installer chooses 2 mm thick steel profiles for the window and doorframes on his own home, it confirms it is the right choice for a strong frame that guarantees high level security and excellent heat and soundproofing.

His home is above his workshop and part of a larger complex of production activities; a very noisy area where the good proofing on the window and doorframes is essential.

The property is situated in Seregno in the province of Milan, and is built with a modern reinterpretation of the traditional architectural style: iron railings, openwork stone, steel and wood.

THE INTERIORS: it is a double-storey building with a central focal element – the stairway and fireplace which all the family life revolves around. On the first floor there is the living area and on the second floor there is a balcony with a steel corridor that passes between the bedrooms. Light plays a fundamental role and there are very large windows with lifting, sliding openings: measuring approx. 3.40 x 2.60. The external cladding of the horizontal structures gives continuity to the different floors.

STEEL: has been used for the window and doorframes, the stairs and the corridor.

THE WINDOW AND DOORFRAMES: have a very important role in the home, being that of a professional installer, who wanted only the best in terms of materials and type of profile; very thick 2 mm plate, excellent quality alloy that is used without reducing anything of the large windows.

Marzia Urettini

Acciaio Arte Architettura N. 33

Commenti disabilitati

Biography:

Nicola Carrino was born in Taranto on 15 February 1932 and lives and works in Rome.

He taught sculpture at the Fine Arts Academy until 1992. He is national academician of St. Luke. He has been exhibiting since 1952. His first personal exhibition was in 1958, and from 1962 to 1997 he belonged to Group 1 in Rome.

In 1969 he created his Transformable Constructors, modular steel sculptures and over the years carried out various Transformations in art galleries and the city. Since 1967 he has been designing and producing sculptures for the town, landscape and public buildings.

Form and Space are the fundamentals of Nicola Carrino’s work, who began sculpting at the beginning of the Seventies to satisfy his desire to let form develop and transform itself in relation to its location communicating with the external space.

He made his first iron and steel sculptures between 1968 and 1969 called Transformable Constructors, with a very impressive impact. The works are placed in space in relation to their installation and form part of the urban view and complex urban construction becoming in turn sculptures to be lived in.

Nicola Carrino’s work, with the Constructive first and the Deconstructive after, are complex urban sculptures that dialogue with their surroundings and the city life and landscape.

Nicola Carrino’s last works are the Deconstructives, produced between 2005-2006, and they are extremely large and visually impressive, redesigning the layout of their location provoking the onlooker’s gaze and giving a new perception of the surroundings. Large single structures made from stainless steel tubular rods measuring 200 x 100 mm, with frames broken up by diagonals and crosses placed longitudinally or slid into the depths.

Steel is a decisive choice in Carrino’s work: the hand ground surfaces reflect and return colour and light, the changing weather and surrounding colours and become absorbed themselves into the context, cancelling each other out to then be regenerated in a presence-absence transformation process which distinguishes the way sculpture and architecture can live together.

The Deconstructives are formed of three sculptures:

The Deconstructive Albornoz Project 2005, situated at the right of the facade of the Albornoz Palace Hotel in Spoleto, formed of 3 squares measuring cm 294 x 294 in hand-ground AISI304 tubular steel measuring mm 200 x 100, crossed through by a diagonal to form a parallelepiped measuring cm 294 x 598 x 152.

The Deconstructive W. Project 2005 was made for situating outside a museum in Rome, formed of three rectangles measuring 2×4 m, in AISI304 stainless steel tubular bars measuring mm 200 x 100.

The Deconstructive Artehotel Project 2006, another tubular steel structure is in Perugia between the Hotel and the car park.

Marzia Urettini

Commenti disabilitati

The internal renovation of the head offices of Gas, the clothing trade mark owned by Grotto S.p.A. in Chiuppano (Vicenza), did not just aim at improving office efficiency but also the transformation of the Veneto premises from a factory to management offices.

Therefore the interiors had to be totally redesigned, freeing all the rooms of any non-structural walls and partitions, to then move the new operations into the building, which is no longer a factory but a sales and communications area which is perfect for the new Gas sales strategy and brand.

Therefore, with these assumptions the designers from Studio C+ reorganised the spaces and operations, placing the showroom in the centre of the building, moving it down from its previous location on the top floor.

This way the spacious showroom has become the heart of the firm with three luminous cubes, eachone similar to a transparent shop that overlook the large square where people meet and speak one to another.

THE PROJECT:

The starting point was to build self-bearing walls that could house proper independent “shops” inside, used as sales areas and showrooms; in collaboration with Visplay (Vitra Group), the planners designed a system comprising a steel joint which acts as structural node for walls or screens on self-bearing structures to create the merchandising areas and other internal spaces.

Partitions, screens, separations, cabins, self-bearing structures that are easily made for any sort of use and, with the right calculations, can even reach considerable sizes.

This system allowed preparing all the internal and external walls in Plexiglas so that they are equipped to carry varying weights and equipment.

The led lighting with changing colours, exalts further the scenographic effect of the cubes, reminding the double rainbow, the logo and the symbol of Gas.

They are attached to the ground by a metal section, which holds both the Plexiglas slabs and the lighting, prepared to support all the different floor levels.

The structural steel node designed by Studio C+ has altered the current production system: the current product application involves installing the device on the wall in just one direction with the sole function of support for shelves and accessories, however the new system is extremely flexible and gives an excellent structural and design result and is perfect for any sort of use.

Marzia Urettini

Acciaio Arte Architettura N. 30

The search for symmetry is one of the keystones of traditional Chinese architecture besides being a symbol feature of many of the works by the architect I. M. Pei: a world of lines, triangles, squares and pure symmetry, and the famous glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum is witness to this.

The Suzhou Museum in the northwest region of Shanghai, is the second large work by the architect I. M. Pei in his homeland.

In 2002 the Suzhou government authorities commissioned the museum building from him, for a total of 5,000 square meters exhibition area which were destined to conserve the treasures of the thousand years old Suzhou, political and cultural heart of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties (XV-XVI century).

The Government committee promoting the project, specifically asked Mr. Pei to design a modern building in “Suzhou style”. The architect’s main reflection was what was the authentic style that had guided constructions in the region over the centuries, and it was the guideline for all the composition research throughout the project.

He used white for the walls and grey stone for the roofs, the traditional Suzhou colours combined with modern forms and materials: steel for all the bearing structures for the roofs and the introduction of large windows.

The visitors’ itinerary is marked by an artificial pond with small waterfalls, and their sound accompanies and guides them through the museum.

Reinterpreting antique traditions, or rather what we presume recalls them, in a modern key and style is difficult but extremely stimulating. << (…) In China – the architect told us – architecture and the garden are one (…) A western building is a building and a garden is a garden. They are related in spirit, but they are one in China.>> (1)

This is why the building drawings are at the same time organisation of the gardens, courtyards and artificial pond, with the open areas that connect it to the portion of the park that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In designing the Suzhou Museum, for a country that is the world’s fastest-growing economy with new buildings and settlements, the wish was to develop the wealth of its thousand years old cultural traditions, without being a slave to them and neither subjected to western models.

(1) “I. M. Pei in China, Revisiting Roots”, “The New York Times” New York City, New York, USA, October 9, 2006, article by David Barboza.

Marina Cescon

Commenti disabilitati