accessArchitecture - Articles & Special Reports
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Feb
21
2008
DETAIL Project of the Month — February 2008The concept for the refurbishment and renovation of Dresden’s train station called for treating the existing structure with the utmost respect, reinforcing the impact it makes, and introducing forward-looking elements to represent modern-day rail travel. Daylight now streams into the train shed through the 30,000-square-metre translucent membrane roof of PTFE-coated, glass-fibre fabric. At night, artificial light reflects off the internal surfaces, and the roof emits a shimmering glow. The renovation work was carried out while the train station was in operation, which had previously been unheard of for a membrane of this size. Jan
18
2008
DETAIL Project of the Month — January 2008A facade of woven willow reeds, reminiscent of a basket, envelops the pupils and teachers in the school in Schulzendorf. This thriving community on Berlin’s southern edge required new classrooms to accommodate the growing number of children. The grounds host a number of buildings: a school dating to the 1930s, a multi-purpose hall from the 1990s, a more recent day-care centre, and a “Magdeburg Type” school building, which was erected in 1965 with prefabricated wall and ceiling components. Dec
19
2007
DETAIL Project of the Month — December 2007Almost like something out of a fairy tale, this finely detailed weekend house stands in the midst of a wooded area an hour’s car drive from Tokyo. The adjacent roads and the steeply sloping ground made it difficult to sell the site, but when it was offered in conjunction with the weekend house designed by the young architectural practice TNA, interested parties turned up almost immediately. Nov
16
2007
DETAIL Project of the Month — November 2007Up to a few years ago, the Nelson Atkins Museum, ossified in a neoclassical palace-like building dating from 1933, looked like any traditional, conservative museum of art. Eight years ago, an architectural competition was held to create an extension for 20th-century and contemporary art. Steven Holl saw in this an opportunity to open the museum not only to new visitors, but also to the cultural life of the city. In contrast to the five other competitors invited to participate with him, Holl did not design the new wing as a monolithic volume set to the north of the main entrance face of the existing structure. He treated it as an elongated architectural landscape laid out along the eastern boundary of the site. Oct
15
2007
DETAIL Project of the Month — October 2007The Xeros project is sited within a 1950s-era neighbourhood, where Phoenix’s urban grid is overtaken by the organic landforms of the North Mountain Preserve. Located at the end of two dead-end streets, the Xeros residence is positioned upon the upward slope of a double lot facing the mountain preserve to the north and the city centre to the south. Checklists Identify Potential Envelope Design ImprovementsBuilding code changes, evolving materials and technologies are just some of the items required on a building checklist. Sep
24
2007
Mixed-mode Building Design Combines Old and New IdeasPassive ventilation and natural cooling are combined with mechanical systems to create healthier indoor environments and even better energy efficiency. Sep
12
2007
Royal Architectural Institute offers course on Building Information ModelingThe RAIC will be offering a course to enable architects, engineers and others in the industry to understand how to offer fully integrated project delivery using this powerful new tool. |
