Liz Dolinar: Looking Out Week 13

This is the Café del Arco by Clavel Arquitectos in Murcia, Spain (2009). The project was a redesign of the existing cafe, which linked two important districts in the city. The vertical wood facade wraps around the walls from the street face to the "interior," showing that the whole cafe is really an open eating space. The facade/interior screen is made from strips of iroko wood set on a steel frame, and designed to balance transparency and privacy. The wood serves as an extension from the street, emphasizing the open, outdoor nature of the cafe, while adding a sense of enclosure from the "screen" and a warm atmosphere.

Mark Terra-Salomão | Looking Out Week 5

For Looking Out Week 5, here is a good example of how computational design doesn't have to produce something super-high-tech but can instead start to infiltrate (and much improve!) small, everyday spaces at Earl's Gourmet Grub, an artisanal deli in Los Angeles, California, by Freeland Buck.

The materiality and color palette are meant to "evoke both technological refinement and the more rustic feel of alpine landscapes and Viennese cafes." The clients wanted their place to have a contemporary architectural identity that goes along with having computationally-designed elements, but also wanted to represent the "alpine freshness" (?) of their quality food.

Freeland Buck delivered.

Alpine Freshness

For more information: http://www.archdaily.com/67444/earl%E2%80%99s-gourmet-grub-freelandbuck/?ad_medium=widget&ad_name=selected-buildings&ad_content=67444.