*️⃣Santa Clara Building

Architect #Lagula Arquitectes
City #Girona
Country #Spain #EU

🔤 The aim of the Gironi developer is to transform a 70’s office dense storey building in a new dynamic living typology. #refurbishment

A new curvy courtyard is proposed. This is thought as modern, transparent, luminous space, open to the sky. As a building heart, provides light, ventilation and character to the homes and to the public mew. It is defined in glass blocks following the north European tradition, from the Viennese Otto Wagner to Pierre Chareau’s modernism.

Private access and public common spaces are open to this new concept space, breathing light. This new insertion, as an ice bloc, melts its character to the street.

🔤
Colour #monochrome
Material #glassbrick
Function #residential
Feature #interior
Address: Carrer de Santa Clara, 11, 17001 Girona, España

©️
pics by #JoseHevia
text by Archdaily

*️⃣Walden 7

Architect #Bofill #RicardoBofill #RBTA
City #Barcelona
Country #Spain #EU

🔤Walden 7 is a project implementing some of Ricardo Bofill's earliest ambitions and addressing most of the problems of modern city life. The housing structure benefits from Bofill's earlier research and the idea of providing public spaces and gardens for residents to enjoy an enhanced quality of living.

The exterior facade has the appearance of a huge fortification completely painted in red. It is opened to the exterior through large overtures such as urban windows several stories in height.

The most interesting aspect of the project is the atypical way in which the housing block is approached. Eighteen towers, seven courtyards, a modular but unsystematic grid, and extensive public space create a vertical labyrinth with no repetitiveness or uniformity.

🔤
Colour #coral #blue
Material #concrete
Function #residential
Feature #retro #adminvisited
Address: Ctra. Reial, 106, 08960 Sant Just Desvern, Barcelona, Spain
Red balcony google street
Blue level google street
Entrance hall google street
Google earth

©️
pics by Denis Esakov, Salva López and architects
text by Archdaily

*️⃣Xanadú

Architect #Bofill #RicardoBofill #RBTA
City #Calp close to #Benidorm
Country #Spain #EU

🔤The building began from the concept of the castle, evolving so that it arrived at a configuration inspired by the famous Peñon de Ifach crag located nearby. #context

The project is composed of cubes whose rigid geometry is broken on the exterior to create a façade portraying a beautiful play of light and shadow and breathtaking views of the landscape. Vernacular details, curving handrails, and roof elements were added to bring together this irregular façade which combines modern principles with select traditional elements.

Most inspiring in this project is the fact that no plans or elevations were drawn by the architects. The units are positioned diagrammatically after being tested against structural analysis in a model. Openings are determined by orientation, light necessity, ventilation systems, privacy, and connection points. The resulting spaces boast a beautiful quality of living.

🔤
Colour #green
Material #concrete
Function #residential
Feature #retro
Address: Partida Manzanera, 2, 03710 Calp, Alicante, Spain
Aerial google street
Google street 2
Google earth

©️
pics by architects
text by Archdaily

*️⃣Niterói Contemporary Art Museum

Architect #OscarNiemeyer #Niemeyer
City #RioDeJaneiro #Rio
Country #Brazil #SA

🔤Although the MAC is often described as UFO-like, Niemeyer’s poetic intention was for the form to emerge "from the ground" and "continuously grow and spread," like a flower that rises from the rocks.

Speaking of the MAC's rocky cliffside site, Niemeyer claimed that the "field was narrow, surrounded by the sea and the solution came naturally.” This natural, intuitive solution was an elegant, curvy structure that rises from a water basin, creating an ambient sense of lightness and allowing for full panoramic views of Sugar-Loaf Mountain and the Guanabara bay.

Throughout his seventy year long career as an architect, Niemeyer designed over 500 projects in Brazil (including the capital city Brasília) as well as in Algeria, France, Spain and Israel; however, he claimed that his museum in Niterói, along with the Congress and Cathedral of Brasília, was one of his favourite projects.

Just for fun: check out the intro to the film Oscar Niemeyer, An Architect Committed To His Century, where Niemeyer is seen flying over Rio de Janeiro in a MAC-UFO.

🔤
Colour #white #monochrome
Material #concrete
Function #public #museum
Feature #retro
Address: Mirante da Boa Viagem, s/nº - Boa Viagem, Niterói - RJ, 24210-390, Brazil
Google street
Aerial google street
Night google street #BestGS@simoderna🔥
Google earth

*️⃣Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Architect #FrankGehry #Gehry
City #Bilbao
Country #Spain #EU

🔤Although the metallic form of the exterior looks almost floral from above, from the ground the building more closely resembles a boat , evoking the past industrial life of the port of Bilbao. Constructed of titanium, limestone, and glass, the seemingly random curves of the exterior are designed to catch the light and react to the sun and the weather.

Fixing clips make a shallow central dent in each of the .38mm titanium tiles, making the surface appear to ripple in the changing light and giving an extraordinary iridescence to the overall composition.

Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao not only changed the way that architects and people think about museums, but also boosted Bilbao's economy with its astounding success. In fact,the phenomenon of a city’s transformation following the construction of a significant piece of architecture is now referred to as the “Bilbao Effect".

🔤
Colour #metallic
Material #titanium
Function #public #museum
Feature #retro
Address: Abandoibarra Etorb., 2, Abando, 48009 Bilbo, Bizkaia, Spain
Google street
Interior google street
Google Earth