Tag: Facade

Wall on Wheels: Sliding Facade Swaps Indoor for Outdoor Space

[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

Tucked into an historic winding Hutong of Beijing, this work of convertible architecture featuring a modular moving wall to make maximum use of flexible interior and exterior space on demand.

The so-called Humble Hostel by Chinese architect Cao Pu is a tiny 130-square-foot apartment with beds that can be rented out for just $ 20 a night. Its novel modularity is a reflection of complex courtyard politics of these intertwined neighborhoods.

Over centuries the lines have become blurred regarding ownership of communal open pedestrian space shared by the aged dwellings that surround them, attached organically over time to branching streets, paths and alleys.

In pulling back the facade of the structure, the design effectively gives space back for public use when the interior volume is not needed, creating space for seating and socializing in otherwise cramped quarters. The resulting roofed patio can host card games, a tea table, pop-up shop or temporary bar.

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Wall On Wheels Sliding Facade Swaps Indoor For Outdoor Space

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Indoor Camping: Vintage RVs Reclaimed as Hostel Rooms

At Bonn’s Basecamp Young Hostel, travelers enjoy the quirky accommodations of cheerfully decorated vintage RVs, with views of the sea and an unchanging …
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Abandoned Intervention: Sliding Facade Reveals Decay

A brand new brick facade slides off the front of a building in Kent, UK to reveal the derelict mess just beyond. Abandoned for 11 years, the four-story …
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Another Wave in the Wall: Vertical Lake Building Facade

This upcoming public art installation at the Brisbane Airport will put the soothing power of flowing water on display for harried travelers and drivers.
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[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

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October 1, 2015
Inevitably Graffitied: White Canvas-Like SoHo Facade Defaced

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

While its creators anticipated this stretched plastic surface appealing to local graffiti artists, they were apparently hoping for a higher grade of street art to adorn the Storefront for Art and Architecture gallery facade in New York City.

Architecture studio SO-IL created this temporary surface as an extension of an exhibition going on within the gallery space, but its creators remain somewhat disappointed: “We knew this would happen. Unrestrained, Storefront pushes itself into the public domain. By wrapping it in a white canvas it further provokes a response from the city. It was anticipated, but what a poor quality of the graffiti… We had hoped for something better.”

So far, tags like “ugly kids” and other scrawled messages have been mainly black spray on the white background – nothing layered or time-consuming. Of course, now that the memo is out, perhaps a different kind of artist will take a try at the surface – that, or the statements may backfire, with artists wondering why they should add value to someone else’s surface.

Illuminated and pressed outward by walls and objects from within the gallery, part of the idea was to draw people into the exhibit by creating visual interest along the street and sidewalk – a novel trick for attracting attention. Still, if this kind of impromptu artistic addition was expected, why not simply invite a group of graffiti artists to contribute in the first place? In the end, once one concedes a surface will be defaced, either it will unfold naturally and unpredictably or will have to be controlled by the property owners – there is no real middle ground.

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Street-Chic Boutique: Stunning Half-Graffitied Hotel Room

Dubbed “The Panic Room” this daring dwelling space is more designed to make you panic than as a place to flee during a (real or panic) attack.
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Walls Notebook: Legal Graffiti in Sketchbook Format

Want the satisfaction of creating street art without the threat of incarceration? The Walls Notebook is a fun way to get the best of both worlds.
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Street Art, Decades Apart: 40 Then & Now Graffiti Photos

We tend to notice as buildings come and go, skylines change and grow with planning and oversight, but what about the spray-painted wall art the adorns the …
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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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February 23, 2015
Faceted Facade: Crystaline Hotel Shaped Like Amethyst Geode

[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

Grand or gaudy, brilliant or just big, this giant-sized, crystal-styled structure is to be the first in a series of gemstone-inspired hotels in which guest rooms are tucked behind colorful glazing – even its designers at NL Architects concede the scheme is at least “slightly insane.”

Dubbed the Amethyst Hotel, this project draws on a long history of cultural associations with this crystal: “The violet-coloured quartz stone has been the subject of numerous myths through history – in Greece it was believed to prevent drunkenness, while medieval soldiers used it for protection during battle, and others thought it could strengthen the immune system or prevent nightmares.”

Kamiel Klaasse and Pieter Bannenberg also drew inspiration from the long-standing tradition of having huge atrium spaces at the heart of hotel designs, seen in major chains like Hyatt and Marriott in the United States and around the world.

Instead of constructing the whole building around an central atrium, however, this approach conceptually slices the structure through its center, just as a geode is cut open to reveal the inner cavity and its hidden crystals.

Set to be built on an artificial island in China (though shown here in various theoretical settings), the design is already arguably serving part of its purpose simply by having been proposed: it is being discussed, debated, critiqued and commented upon by architects and designers around the world and as they say: all press is good press.

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Subterranean Quarry Hotel to Extend 328 Feet Underground

A futuristic-looking hotel set into a 328-foot-deep abandoned quarry in China is now under construction, and will offer bungee jumping and aquatic sports.
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A Room for London: Cloud-Shaped Temporary Rooftop Hotel

Floating like a cloud between the ground and the sky, this ephemeral rooftop hotel was designed to perch atop the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 2012.
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Urban Geodes: Crystal Street Art Hidden in Broken Spaces

Breaking open even the dullest rock may reveal amazing crystals. This street art project exposes formations in cracked concrete, broken brick and rusted pipes.
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[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

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February 6, 2015
Virtual Light: Facade Installation Casts Fake Illumination

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

A temporary project set in Madrid, this bright yellow artistic reconfiguration was rendered all the more engaging due to its location in a semi-dark alleyway of the city.

It was created by (fos), an alliance of artists and designers (the word meaning ‘light’ in Greek and ‘melted’ in Catalan), utilizing the front of a vegan restaurant in the semi-secluded Lope de Vega street.

A combination of sun-bright yellow tape and paint were deployed in a pattern intended to abstractly simulate the casting of light, surrounded by shadow, with a few artistic liberties taken in terms of angles and scope.

The context, mostly made of stone or painted in muted tones, made the vivid yellow intervention stand out as something extreme, drawing a great deal of attention from passers by through its stark contrasts.

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Paintless Landscapes: Scenic Art Made of Light & Shadow

A collection of unlikely (often discarded) objects coupled with a light source can create amazing city scenes, landscapes, portraits and more in the hands of …
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Abandonment Art: Deserted House Turned Light Installation

A lonely abandoned house was turned in to a space filled with life and light for a temporary – but utterly moving – installation.
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Interactive Light Art Installation Operated by Smart Phones

A five-story light art installation in Frankfurt billows and contracts like a curtain or a veil, controlled by swipes of users’ fingers on their smart phones.
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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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May 30, 2014
Kinetic Facade: Awesome Adaptive Window Shading System

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

Buildings are forever in tension, being static objects in a dynamic world – light conditions in particular shift predictably yet variably throughout the day, week, season and year, in turn demanding an adaptive response.

Thus the Penumbra system by Tyler Short, “designed to offer a kinetic and mechanical solution to a problem that would otherwise be nearly impossible to solve with static architectural components: providing shading across a building facade for both low evening sun and high afternoon sun conditions.”

The constituent parts can shift side to side while in their vertical orientation, then turn on a proverbial dime to form a horizontal shading solution, all creating a way to deflect (and let in) light while maintaining control over views.

More from the designer: “Our solution was a series of vertical shading louvers, that can independently pivot to maximize solar protection, and when the sun reaches an altitude in which vertical louvers would be ineffective, completely rotate upwards to act as a horizontal shading element and light shelf. All of the mechanical components and gear ratios were fully resolved, and the result is a hand or computer-operated system that creates a beautiful undulating form across the facade.”

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Algae-Fueled Building: World’s First Bio-Adaptive Facade

Bio-reactors and micro-algae sound like the stuff of science fiction, but this is the real deal: biomass built into panel glass on an actual working structure.
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House of Glass: Cabin Facade from Antique Window Frames

On an unusual kind of cross-country road trip, this couple visited garage sales, antique dealers and added these to other roadside finds, all toward the quest …
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Adaptive Reuse: 7 Brilliant Building Conversion Projects

So many recycled projects out there, but few can boast they live in a boat, or a plane, or a church, for that matter – here are a few that do.
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[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

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March 17, 2014
Puzzle Facade: Play a Building Like a Giant Rubik’s Cube

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

The entire facade of the Ars Electronic Building in Linz, Austria has become the world’s largest playable Rubik’s cube thanks to a color-changing illuminated facade controlled by a 3D-printed device. Anyone who wants to try their hand at the ‘Puzzle Facade‘ manipulates the hand-held interface-cube like they would an ordinary Rubik’s cube, and their movements are translated to the building.

The interactive display, by Spanish artist and designer Javier Lloret, uses bluetooth to connect the cube to a software program that converts the information into color and light. Only being able to see two sides of the building increases the difficulty factor.

Of course, if you think you’re skilled enough to try to crack a Rubik’s cube this big, you’d better be pretty confident, because your handiwork is going to be on citywide display. Watch it in action above.

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Mirrored Street Facade Art Turns Pedestrians into Acrobats

At first: vertigo. You are moving along the sidewalk, when suddenly you see the front of a structure, only on its side, extruded from the ground below you. Click Here to Read More »»

Preservation Puzzle: Extreme Ideas to Save an Urban Facade

Some serious fans, including a range of architects such as Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi, Tadao Ando, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, would like to see this … Click Here to Read More »»

Another Wave in the Wall: Vertical Lake Building Facade

This upcoming public art installation at the Brisbane Airport will put the soothing power of flowing water on display for harried travelers and drivers. Click Here to Read More »»

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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WebUrbanist

December 22, 2013
Puzzle Facade: Play a Building Like a Giant Rubik’s Cube

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

The entire facade of the Ars Electronic Building in Linz, Austria has become the world’s largest playable Rubik’s cube thanks to a color-changing illuminated facade controlled by a 3D-printed device. Anyone who wants to try their hand at the ‘Puzzle Facade‘ manipulates the hand-held interface-cube like they would an ordinary Rubik’s cube, and their movements are translated to the building.

The interactive display, by Spanish artist and designer Javier Lloret, uses bluetooth to connect the cube to a software program that converts the information into color and light. Only being able to see two sides of the building increases the difficulty factor.

Of course, if you think you’re skilled enough to try to crack a Rubik’s cube this big, you’d better be pretty confident, because your handiwork is going to be on citywide display. Watch it in action above.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Mirrored Street Facade Art Turns Pedestrians into Acrobats

At first: vertigo. You are moving along the sidewalk, when suddenly you see the front of a structure, only on its side, extruded from the ground below you.
Click Here to Read More »»

Preservation Puzzle: Extreme Ideas to Save an Urban Facade

Some serious fans, including a range of architects such as Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi, Tadao Ando, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, would like to see this …
Click Here to Read More »»

Another Wave in the Wall: Vertical Lake Building Facade

This upcoming public art installation at the Brisbane Airport will put the soothing power of flowing water on display for harried travelers and drivers.
Click Here to Read More »»

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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WebUrbanist

December 12, 2013
Abandoned Intervention: Sliding Facade Reveals Decay

[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

A brand new brick facade slides off the front of a building in Kent, UK to reveal the derelict mess just beyond. Abandoned for 11 years, the four-story structure that stood as an eyesore along a residential street of this seaside town is now an intriguing work of art that makes a statement about what may lie behind the superficiality of seemingly perfect appearances.

The crumbling top story remains exposed, giving a glimpse of what is inside only to those who can get high enough to see it. The Cliftonville district of the city, where the installation is located, was once affluent, but struggled as the whims of vacationers turned to other places. With increased crime and poverty came the decay of once-grand architecture.

The Thanet District Council of Kent gave artist Alex Chinneck permission to create the installation, entitled ‘From The Knees of My Nose To The Belly Of My Toes’, which will stand for a year before the building is brought back into public use.

Ten companies donated materials, manufacturing labor and professional surfaces to get the project off (or rather, on) the ground. “I was aware of this idea that people have a choice whether or not they go through the doors of an art gallery, and often they don’t because they feel intimidated, so I think public art is important,” Chinneck told The Daily Mail.

[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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WebUrbanist

October 3, 2013
House of Glass: Cabin Facade from Antique Window Frames

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

On an unusual kind of cross-country road trip, this couple visited garage sales, antique dealers and added these to other roadside finds, all toward the quest of assembling an an eccentric collection of windows for a unique dream home.

Creators Lilah Horwitz and Nick Olson are, respectively, a designer and photographer, but with a common architectural vision of a home where one whole facade would be made of windows. The goal: let sunsets illuminate the structure’s entire interior space, creating a multitude of views, wood-framed through artfully arranged window openings.

The result sits on the sunny hills of West Virginia, a rustic-style cabin in which the front-facing fenestration is the dominant design feature. The assemblage reflects their personalities – the hands-on approach Olson takes with his camera and images, and the landscaping and fashion experience of Horwitz.

In turn, Matt Glass and Jordan Wayne Long interviewed the couple for a short seven-minute film on Half Cut Tea. The result shows the pair of creatives but also the context of their creation via shots of the surrounding landscape and entry path as well as the dwelling itself by daylight and at night.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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September 16, 2013
Algae-Fueled Building: World’s First Bio-Adaptive Facade

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Bio-reactors and micro-algae sound like the stuff of science fiction, but this is the real deal: biomass built into panel glass is both generating heat and acting as a responsive light and sound barrier, all in one brilliant new building in Hamburg.

Arup has long been predicting incredible innovations in architecture, but they are also keen to show that their designers and engineers are actually working toward world-changing technologies.

Bright sunlight causes the bio-reactors to grow faster and supply more shade on demand. The resulting biomass captures solar heat as well, and can be harvested and used as a source of energy itself. It is, in essence, an architectural ecosystem in which all parts of the process are not only sustainable but multi-functional and fully integrated.

There is always talk of futuristic building technologies, but few firms are able to break new ground in some of the most promising directions. If there is to be a new ‘living architecture’ movement involving micro-climates, bio-chemical processes and responsive materials, Arup continues to prove itself on the forefront of its exploration.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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May 2, 2013