Facade Friday!



Image from Treehugger

A theme to many of these Facade Friday! posts that I see emerging is that I am drawn to facades that are screen-like in nature. I also am very intrigued by facades that are active and use non-traditional materials and/or traditional materials in a new manner. The facade of the Carabanchel Housing project by Foreign Office Architects (I know, great name!) incorporates all of these qualities.

The facade is made up of folding screens made of bamboo. They create privately screened in decks for the units when closed; a view to the outside world when open. The interior effect is really lovely:

 

The bamboo is a sustainable material, and the screening also helps to keep the building cool. The bamboo screens actually act as louvers, letting breezes through while keeping solar gain out. The participatory aspect of this facade is also great. I love how the proportions of the facade will change daily based on who has their screens open and who has left them closed.

Plus, the screens when opened add an additional layer of texture and chunkiness to the facade. The overall effect is very nice.

Images from NoticiaArquitectura

Forest Fire Friday

A love of buildings and making them has shaped my life and my career, but in the end they are only as good as the people who use them and love them. A place is no good if it contains no love from it's inhabitants.

The Flying W Ranch is a place from my youth. Since 1953 they've hosted chuckwagon dinners with the songs of the Flying W Wranglers. On Tuesday, the ranch burned to the ground, a casualty of the Waldo Canyon Fire.

The architecture of the ranch, well, that I can barely remember. But the essense of  the place, and the memory of what was created there, is distinct in my mind. The place was alive with good times and an authentic western atmosphere. I am very sad for this loss, though the family has promised to rebuild.

Images from Amazon.com, The Gazette Telegraph, and The Flying W Ranch Website

Facade Friday!

Rocks!

I've always loved this facade. Such a basic idea, stolen from our friends the engineers over at hill-side management, inc. who use gabions to hold back and stabilize hills.

The neighborhood I grew up in was accessed by a winding road called Crystal Hills Boulevard that was protected by a tall gabion wall - sort of like this:

Image from gabions.net

Except in our case the rocks inside the mesh were the purple/red native rock of Manitou Springs. So the first time I saw the facade of Herzog and De Meuron's Dominus Estate Winery I was immediately drawn to their use of the gabion as a facade/exterior wall. Like my old roadway they used local rocks, uniformly arranged in wire cages.

These exterior gabion walls let filtered light and air through, and they add a cooling effect to the spaces inside. Quite clever. Textural and beautiful too!

Winery mages from The Republic of Less Blog

Facade Friday!

We're back after being camping on the coast last week. And by "we" I mean me and my dog and this here blog.
In honor of my upcoming birthday, I will feature a facade by an architect (and his partner) that shares my special day with me.

Eames House. Image from archpaper.com 

The facade of the Eames house is like a Mondrian painting come to life. What I love is that the patterns and color look so painterly and have such lovely proportions, yet they are also informed by purpose. The black panel with the "x" is a structural braced frame, opaque areas and colored areas obscure views into spaces that need to be more private, or they hide where there is just wall and not space beyond.

I also really like the way the facade slips behind the preserved eucalyptus tree...

All four sides of the house have this similar theme of proportion and function.

Images from Wikimedia Commons

Happy Birthday Charles Eames!

Facade Friday

Facade Friday! - Historical Edition

This is one of my all-time favorite facades. Just look at those volutes!

I will buy the first person to identify this building in the comments a beer. Happy Memorial Day!

Facade Friday!

In honor of spring, let's look at facades that are exuberently colorful.

Expansion of the Palais des Congrès de Montréal designed by a collaboration of Tétreault, Parent, Languedoc et Associés with Saïa et Barbarese Architectes, Ædifica, and Hal Ingberg Architect. Image from ArchitectureWeek.com

I love this texture-

This one is actually a brise soleil or "sunscreen". Sounds much fancier to say "brise soleil". Look at what is looks like from the back:

Images from 2modern.com

I love the way the colors reflect against the granite wall. It's a school in Barcelona by Mestura Arquitectos.

This one looks like a watercolor - very lovely:

Image from cubeme.com

It's the Ruban Youth Center by KOZ architects.

And how could I have a blog post about colorful facades without throwing a little Hundertwasser Haus in?

Image from the muslimahsuitcase blog

Happy spring!