*️⃣Chungha Building

Architect #MVRDV
City #Seoul
Country #SouthKorea #AP

🔤MVRDV was commissioned to redefine a building on Gangnams Road. Even though the Chungha building was completed in the 1980’s it was already outdated in a street dominated by flagship stores. The transformation, which added an extra level, was completed in just 9 months.

The new façade concept is convincingly simple: Chungha is a multiple identity building which was transformed into a collection of shop windows so each commercial venture imposed onto the façade would have a fitting canvas for its display.

The exterior façade tiles, which resemble white foam from close-up and smooth white stone from further away, are also used on the sidewalk and in the lobby.

🔤
Colour #white #mixed
Material #concrete
Function #retail #shop
Feature #nightlight #renovation
Address: 449 Apgujeong-ro, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

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pics by #KyungsubShin
text by architects

*️⃣Cidade Matarazzo – Torre Rosewood

Architect #JeanNouvel #Nouvel #AJN
City #SaoPaulo
Country #Brazil #SA

🔤The construction of Cidade Matarazzo counted with a retrofitting process, in which preserving the monumental Maternity Building was a top priority. Thus, a special formulation high resistance concrete was used to minimize on the original building structure. #heritage

‘Matarazzo park is a remnant,’ says jean nouvel. ‘more than a remnant, I would say it’s an oasis. it’s a space of calm urbanization. A space of incredible trees: figs and magnolias. the hospital in the middle of the grounds is a sort of mini-town, very well organized around patios. surrounding this little gem is a chaotic metropolis.

What is most interesting for me is being able to work with the memory of the place.’

#quote@simoderna

413 small and large trees — ipês, mastic trees, cedars, pitangueiras and jabuticabeiras, among other species — were planted here on the facades and in the hanging gardens. #greenery

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Colour #brown
Material #steel
Function #residential #hospitality #hotel
Address: R. Itapeva - Bela Vista, São Paulo - SP, 01332-000, Brazil
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pics by #RolandHalbe
text by Architizer and Designboom

*️⃣Bar Raval

Architect #Partisans
City #Toronto
Country #Canada #NA

🔤Bar Raval is a 21st-century reinterpretation of Spanish Art Nouveau. The client charged us with executing an ambitious task: “create an art piece” that would become an enduring culinary and civic institution. We interpreted the directive through two aesthetic lenses: Spanish design and the organicism of muscle tissue. Raval’s sculptural sentience pays direct homage to tattooed physicality of the three owners in the context of Art Nouveau tropes and craftsmanship reimagined for contemporary Toronto.

In order to realize partisan's novel toolpaths, the team worked directly with fabricators to adjust the software code they would eventually use to mill over 9km of engravings on 75 panels of #wood.

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Function #hospitality #bar
Feature #interior
Address: 505 College St, Toronto, ON M6J 2J3, Canada
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pics by Jonathan Friedman
text by architects

*️⃣Book mountain

Architect #MVRDV
City #Spijkenisse close to #Rotterdam
Country #Netherlands #EU

🔤The exterior of the library refers in shape and materiality to the traditional Dutch Farm, a reminder of the towns agricultural past, which has grown from farming village to Ville Nouvelle in the past 40 years.

In order to connect the former village centre visually and distinguish clearly between commercial and library programme, a ‘blanket’ of brick is laid over the neighbourhood and the libraries pyramidal heart.

Underneath its monumental #glass envelope damage to the books by sunlight is off-set by their normal 4 year life-span due to wear and tear from borrowing.

Another reference to the towns agricultural past lies in the libraries bookshelves. Made of recycled unwanted flowerpots, these elements are simultaneously fireproof and economic and provide a perfect background to the books. #sustainability

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Function #public #library
Feature #interior
Address: Markt 40, 3201 CP Spijkenisse, Netherlands
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pics by #JeroenMusch
text by Dezeen

*simoderna google map

*️⃣California Academy of Sciences

Architect #Piano #RenzoPiano #RPBW
City #SanFrancisco
Country #USA #NA

🔤After the widespread destruction of the Academy's buildings during the earthquake in 1989, RPBW was selected to develop the project. Architects approach prioritized preserving as many existing structures as possible. #renovation

The central courtyard is covered by a concave #glass canopy with a reticular structure, resembling a spider’s web, open at the center to allow light and air to flow through. This “living roof” hosts 1.7 million native plants in biodegradable coconut-fiber containers, blending seamlessly with the park's natural landscape. #greenery

Photovoltaic cells are embedded between the two glass panels forming the transparent canopy around the green roof's perimeter. These cells generate over 5% of the museum’s electricity needs. The project’s material choices, including recycled concrete, recycled steel, and wall insulation made from denim scraps, were integral to its sustainability goals. #sustainability

🔤
Function #public #museum
Address: 55 Music Concourse Dr, San Francisco, CA 94118, United States
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pics by #TimGriffith, #NicLehoux, Tom Fox and Shunji Ishida
text by architects