Architecture Info

Architect ?

2008-08-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the planning and design of buildings and participates in oversight of building construction. The word "architect" comes from Latin architectus, which in turn derives from Greek arkhitekton (arkhi, chief + tekton, builder")^[1]. In its broadest sense, an architect is a person who translates a user's requirements into a built environment.

Architects must frequently make professional decisions that affect the safety and well being of the general public. Architects are required to obtain specialized education and experience to obtain a license to practice architecture, similar to the requirements for other professionals. The requirements for practice vary from place to place (see below).

The words "architect" and "architecture" are also used by professionals in other engineering-like disciplines, notably by Software architects. However, see below for the protected status of these words under some jurisdictions.

Mississauga's Absolute Tower

2008-08-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yansong Ma, founder of Beijing/China architectural design firm MAD office, has been named winner of the international competition to design the landmark condominium tower at the new Absolute Community in the heart of Mississauga.

Rafael Viñoly Architects

2008-03-20T02:18:00.000-07:00

Rafael Viñoly Architects
Carrasco International Airport
Montevideo, Uruguay

Photo courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects

Carrasco International Airport, officially known as “Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco General Cesareo L. Berisso,” is located 11 miles (18 kilometers) east of downtown Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay.

With one million passengers per year, it is one of only two airports in the country that provide year- round international connections, and as a result carries great symbolic value as the “front door” for many visitors.
The gentle curve and low profile of the monolithic roof help integrate the building into its site as well as providing a canopy over the access roads on one side of the building, and opening up wide views to the runway on the opposite side.

Photo courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects

The departures level is one large volume, in keeping with a long tradition of grand transportation halls. The glazing on all four sides and the thin structural supports allow the roof to float above the building. A grid of round skylights provides additional natural daylighting.

Photo courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects

Arrivals and departures are separated vertically for efficient circulation and security reasons. The atrium adjacent to the street entrance visually and spatially links these two stages of a traveler’s journey, opening the ground floor to the monumental space of the main hall.

A public, landscaped terrace occupies the second floor above the departure level, providing views of the runway and the main public concourse. It also features a restaurant and additional space for other commercial or cultural uses.

After completing check-in and security procedures, departing travelers have access to duty-free shopping and restaurants in the waiting areas.
Arriving travelers pass through a mezzanine level, fully glazed to allow terminal and runway views that help orient newcomers to the terminal space, before descending to the baggage claim, customs, immigration, and further duty-free shopping areas.

An open atrium adjacent to the street entrance visually and spatially links the beginning and ending stages of a traveler’s journey, and opens the ground floor to the monumental space of the main hall.

"...dramatic and welcoming spaces for those who aren’t traveling as well as those who are.”
Rafael Viñoly

Photo courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects

Drawing courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Site Plan

Drawing courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Plan Level 1

Drawing courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Plan Level 2

Drawing courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Latitudinal Section

Drawing courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Longitudinal Section

Total area: 32,000 square meters
Expected completion: 2009

Client: Puerta del Sur
Architect: Rafael Viñoly Architects PC
Lead Designer: Rafael Viñoly
Structural Engineers: Thornton Tomasetti Group
Mechanical Engineer: Luis Lagomarsino & Ass.
Electrical Engineer: Ing. Ricardo Hofstadter
Plumbing Engineer: Estudio Jack Yaffe Berro

Book Review: Cost-Effective Buildings

2008-03-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

Cost-Effective Building: Economic concepts and constructions (2007) edited by Christian Schittich
Birkhauser
Hardcover, 176 pages

The latest in Detail Magazine's in DETAIL series presents what could be called "un-Bilbao" buildings; those commissions not blessed with the almost limitless budgets that allow for expensive materials, formal invention, and a HUGE scale. Where previous books in the series looked at building types (single-family housing) or architectural elements (building skins), this one focuses on the less-thrilling aspect of architectural production: the budget. Building types in these pages range from single- and multi-family houses to schools and factories, with the book loosely arranged where essays and interviews partition the various projects into types. In this manner the book moves from small scale to large, from timber and masonry structure to concrete and steel, from private to (quasi-)public, from individual to collective. The essays and interviews act as markers, orienting the reader to the general goal at hand: expressing ways of creating unique architectural solutions with small budgets.

This goal being said, these projects exhibit a lack of formal variety; the orthogonal prevails here. Perhaps this is due to the small budgets, though the general attitude that can be inferred by the designs is that a simplified structure and volume affords more money on the exterior wall, and therefore greater architectural expression. Given Detail Magazine's consistent format for each project that focuses its details on exterior walls -- in addition to the requisite plans, building sections, and photographs -- this skin emphasis, if you will, should come as no surprise.

A good example of this is Foreign Office Architects' Hotel in Groningen, Netherlands, a tiny building with the massing of two stacked cubes. A steel structure achieves minimal sizing via cladding the building in a lightweight, corrugated aluminum skin, perforated to allow light to leak in either direction. While corrugated aluminum is surely a low-budget material, here it allows the architects to use the small plaza the building fronts to its advantage, allowing the skin to open and close via a facade covered in operable shutters and doors. Even without a novel form (definitely not a prerequisite for successful architecture in this reviewer's opinion) the project elevates itself above its small budget, not only architecturally but in terms of place-making, with its strong relationship to its small yet important open space. While the conceptually clarity and success of FOA's project is not shared by every project in these pages, there are enough variations on the orthogonal box theme to make the book a good resource for tackling the low-budget commissions that most architects face.