RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Rooftop’

House in Reverse: Rooftop Driveway Leads to Hillside Home

09 Jan

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

House in Reverse 1

Most people with single-family homes are used to pulling up into their driveways and then ascending flights of stairs to get to the living spaces. But in this case, a ground-level driveway leads directly to an open-air rooftop terrace, and to enter the home, you go down.

House in Reverse 2

House in Reverse 3

‘Car Park House’ by Anonymous Architects takes advantage of the hilly Los Angeles landscape. Built on a steep plot of land just off a winding road, the home makes the most of a challenging site, maximizing views from every level. Local building code requires the home to have two parking spots.

House in Reverse 4

A steel frame and a series of concrete pillars support the modern house as it projects out from the hillside, with two separate terraces looking out onto the San Gabriel mountains from the kitchen and master bedroom.

House in Reverse 5

House in Reverse 6

Calling it a ‘car park house’ puts the emphasis on the least attractive part of the home, but perhaps it’s appropriate considering Los Angeles car culture. But it’s a lot more than just a driveway with a view.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Open House(s): 10 Wonderful Open-Plan Home Designs

Open floor plans allow even the smallest cottage to seem spacious and luxurious. These 10 homes with open plans are the pinnacle of modern architectural design. Click Here to Read More »»


House of the Future: 12 Ultra-Modern Home Designs

With sharp angles, sterile white interiors and built-in furniture, these 12 house designs may give us an idea of what the homes of the future will look like. Click Here to Read More »»


Amphitheater of the Dead: Hong Kong Hillside Cemeteries

This terraced structure is not the remains of some ancient amphitheater, but a metropolis of the dead that’s just as dense as that of the living city of … Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on House in Reverse: Rooftop Driveway Leads to Hillside Home

Posted in Creativity

 

Secret Slums: Ramshackle Rooftop Villages of Hong Kong

29 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Travel & Places. ]

roof tops hong kong

These hidden shanty towns, often invisible from the streets below, sprawl like surrealist suburbs across the roofs of one of the most densely-populated and expensive cities in the world.

rooftop dwelling book cover

The book Portraits From Above meticulously documents a series of such informal micro-villages in Hong Kong with photographs, detailed diagrams and stories of life inside these illicit rooftop communities.

rooftop villages china distance

While the dwellings are unconventional in shape, the book’s drawings are almost deceptively refined, capturing the chaos in clean black-on-white architectural lines.

rooftop interior diagram drawing

Ad hoc architecture at its strangest, these structures are not governed by building codes or compliance issues. Found materials from sheet metal and scrap wood to discarded plastic and broken brick shape home walls and the narrow halls between homes.

rooftop shanty entry way

rooftop black white interior

Naturally, one downside of such unplanned habitats are the series of power and waste management issues that go with the territory.

rooftop community village diagram

rooftop shack aerial view

Despite living on the fringes – or perhaps because their shared connection – there are strong social ties between rooftop dwellers, and they were welcoming to the authors of this book, Stefan Canham and Rufina Wu, who sought to learn more about how people live in such offbeat accommodations. In many ways, too, these mini-cities are like smaller expressions of larger-scale phenomenon like the nearby but now-demolished Kowloon Walled City.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Amphitheater of the Dead: Hong Kong Hillside Cemeteries

This terraced structure is not the remains of some ancient amphitheater, but a metropolis of the dead that’s just as dense as that of the living city of … Click Here to Read More »»


Dense City: Photos Show Tightly-Packed Hong Kong Towers

Twice as dense as New York, and four times as crowded as London, Hong Kong is a fascinating mix of natural landscape edged by incredibly dense human … Click Here to Read More »»


The Fifth Facade: A Peek Inside NYC’s Hidden Rooftop World

Even for difficult-to-surprise native New Yorkers, the hidden NYC that Alex MacLean captured in his new book might be something completely new. Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Travel & Places. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Secret Slums: Ramshackle Rooftop Villages of Hong Kong

Posted in Creativity

 

Tall Temple: Bizarre Rooftop Palace on Chinese Skyscraper

10 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Illegal Rooftop Temple China 1

The man who built his very own luxury mountain palace atop a condo tower in China – illegally – is hardly alone in his endeavors. A Chinese microblogger spotted what looks like another unsanctioned resort on the roof of a 21-story luxury apartment complex in Shenzhen, complete with lush landscaping and a temple.

Illegal Rooftop Temple China 2

While it’s clear that the stone penthouse was built without permission, this particular rooftop paradise is shrouded in mystery. It has been situated on top of the apartment building for at least three years, but nobody knows who it belongs to, or why it appears to be under such tight security, including cameras, guard dogs and a fingerprint scanner.

A video taken from a helicopter gives us a glimpse at the complex, which appears to include gardens and a pond as well as the gold-tiled temple itself. Tenants fear the suspected illegal construction could jeopardize the structural integrity of the entire building. Neighbors report that golden sheets of joss paper, which is burned to honor ancestors, occasionally floats down from the temple’s perch, leading them to believe it’s used for traditional Chinese religious practices.

Illegal Rooftop Temple China 3

According to the South China Morning Post, a local property owner told reporters that the person responsible for the temple might be the director of Nanshan district’s Residential Property Management Office, a man named Xiong. “We once had a meeting [regarding the temple] and required it to be demolished. We put up notifications. But [Xiong] installed a security door and refused to let demolition people near [the structure.] The [problem] has still yet to be resolved.”

Share on Facebook

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Tall Temple: Bizarre Rooftop Palace on Chinese Skyscraper

Posted in Creativity

 

Leisure in the Sky: 13 Elevated Railway + Rooftop Parks

02 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Elevated Parks Main

In cities where highways and high-rises have taken up virtually every square foot of real estate there is to be had, lush parks, pedestrian walkways and bike paths can be hard to come by. That’s why, in many cities, supporters of public green space are starting to look up, and they’re reclaiming and rehabilitating abandoned infrastructure in the process. New York City’s The High Line has inspired cities across the world to consider disused railways and viaducts as elevated parks, and rooftop recreation spots are increasing in popularity, too.

The High Line, New York City

Elevated Parks High Line NYC

A rail track that was decommissioned in 1980, standing in disrepair as an eyesore for decades, is now one of New York City’s most popular attractions after its transformation into an elevated park. The High Line is a one-mile section of the former New York Central Railroad spur called The West Side, running along the lower west side of Manhattan, offering views of the city and the Hudson River along with walkways, naturalist plantings, and spots to rest. Its revitalization has spurred development in neighborhoods that lie alongside it.

Namba Parks, Osaka

Elevated Parks Osaka

Eight levels of sloping parks full of trees, cliffs, boulders, lawns, streams, waterfalls and outdoor terraces gradually wind up the rooftop of a lifestyle center adjacent to a 30-story tower in Osaka, Japan. Namba Parks provides greenery and recreation space in a city full of concrete, where nature can be difficult to access. Spaces carved from this rooftop space down to the bottom level of the building create artificial ‘canyons’ for natural lighting.

Promenade Plantee, Paris

Elevated Parks Paris

Promenade Plantee is the elevated park that started it all, predating the High Line by nearly twenty years. It was built along Paris’ elevated Viaduct des Arts, which supported the Vincennes Railway from 1859 to 1969. The arcades under the viaduct were converted into art galleries and artisan workshops.

QueensWay Park on the Long Island Railroad, New York

Elevated Parks Queensway

The QueensWay project has been a controversial proposal, because although additional public green space would be a great thing for the residents of the Queens borough of New York City, many people feel that restoring the rail line to underserved areas would be even more beneficial. Nonetheless, the plan is moving forward, with a 3.5-mile section of decommissioned railway set to become a park.

Next Page:
Leisure In The Sky 13 Railway Rooftop Parks

Share on Facebook

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Leisure in the Sky: 13 Elevated Railway + Rooftop Parks

Posted in Creativity

 
Newer Entries »