Looking Out Week 1: Madhura Kharche

This observation tower by ARHIS architects respects the context of its building site and successfully replicates its surroundings through its own form and materiality.

The structure of the tower is a metal framework that is covered with wooden elements. It includes a core square tower with a spiral metallic staircase around it.

There are 12 balconies along the height of the tower that provide open and undistracted views. A person observing nature from this tower would feel like he or she is a part of it.

Gary Li: Looking Out Week 1

This project by Brendan Callander features a community garden shed. Similar to the hoop houses that we constructed last year, it is based on PREVENTING shade from affecting plant growth as well as PROVIDING shade for the central meeting space. Not only does this project benefit the site but it also brings the community together. The 2x4s that line the edge of this building also serves as a way of drawing and sharing ideas within the community. What's even better is that this project was constructed in a partnership with UBC architecture students! However we kinda beat them to the chase with our hoop house projects.  

Carolina Tamayo| Looking Out Week 1

I enjoy looking at interior designs, so one day I stumbled across an interesting website. The website is called Blossomstudio's interior design and furniture blog.  It is a website that focuses on sharing new and modern ways to decorate rooms like kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, etc.

What caught my attention was the simple and minimalist look of the bedrooms. They are not so much rooms but pieces of furniture with many different functions. By just using light wood and a bit of color they were able to create a comfortable, pleasant, and inhabitable area on a limited amount of space. 

Mark Terra-Salomão | Looking Out Week 1

I'm finally making my first post. Apparently I'm less computer-literate than I like to think and don't know how to accept blog invitations.

Anyway, I wanted to mix things up a bit for this Looking Out Week 1 post by focusing on a different kind of wood product - paper - or in this case, cardboard. And this example is architecture!

After the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, much of the city was left devastated, including ChristChurch Cathedral.

Obviously, that was a massive morale buster and the City of Christchurch looked to build a new semi-permanent cathedral. They hired the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, and in a rather ironic twist of parti, he decided to build a cathedral out of 96 cardboard tubes and timber framing (and some steel reinforcement here and there). Although there has been a lot of controversy, including construction costs and delays, it is pretty interesting, and toes the line, I think, with its subtle dark humor. It is known as the Cardboard Cathedral, officially.

Model

Construction

Almost There

Done! (Actually this might be a render. But you get the point.)

Shigeru Ban has a history of building with cardboard tubes. He has even built a church out of cardboard tubes after an earthquake before the Cardboard Cathedral. That was the 1995 Takatori Catholic Church in Kobe, Japan, whose previous iteration was destroyed by the Great Hanshin earthquake of January 1995. It was supposed to be a temporary structure, but it is still standing, now in Taiwan. Here it is:

Candace Ju | Looking Out Week One (Late, OOPS)

While looking for wood construction architecture, I came across two projects completed by the same Vietnamese firm (Vo Trong). They are both cafe's experimenting with bamboo construction and ways to use bamboo and its tensile abilities to create new and interesting spaces that still feel natural and honest. Below are some photos from both projects. 

wNw Cafe: integrated with nature and elements, with stepping stones over an artificial lake, uses bamboo in an unconventional manner, also uses steel for structure and tectonics. Architects were very aware of the limits and capabilities of bamboo and pushed them to their advantage. Design is to maximize airflow in the tropical conditions. 

Indochine Cafe: serves as a banquet hall, is open to nature, yet sheltered from the sun and rain, looks out on an artificial lake, and is inspired by traditional Vietnamese fishing baskets.
 

 I apologize for the formatting. It is impossible.

Shannon Earnest: Looking Out 1-B House

The B House by ch+qs arquitectos is located in Berrocal, Segovia, Spain. The design stems from the surrounding environment which is filled with various natural yellow elements. The architecture almost disappears within the landscape and frames inhabitants' views from inside the house. 

Quresh Tyebji: Looking Out Week 1

The Canadian Pavilion in Shanghai China at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 by Saia Barbarese Topouzanov Architects is a creative sculptural piece of architecture through the use of multiple wood panels. The crinkles and bends remind me of last semester (Fall 2013) where “folding” was a major theme. It is made with 4000 m² of Canadian red cedar, representing that wood is natural, renewable, and recoverable. “The Canada Pavilion design was created to reflect Canadian values of inclusivity, sustainability, and creativity,” but what is most intriguing is the contrast from exterior to interior; when you see the outside it looks like a mesh of multiple wood strands, but when you look from the inside out you actually start to understand how the wood is used for both aesthetic and structural intent. Lastly, the lighting on this building is incredible due to the way different colors hit at certain points and disperse on the façade.

Kayla Quinn: Looking out Week 1

This is the salvage door coffee table. It was built by a couple of the names Rita and Cane. They needed a new coffee table and wanted it to be used for more than just storing junk. They see it as a useful spot to play board games, put up your feet, and so on. They decided to build their own coffee table instead of throwing down money. So instead of Ikea they headed to the “Rebuilding Center” to find an old door that they both enjoyed. They found a very old 5-panel door (3 for table top, 1 per side) that was green on one side and light gray on the other for only $10. After it was cleaned it was cut into three pieces and then screwed together using brackets and wood glue. They Even put casters on the bottom shelf so that it is able to roll around.