It seems as though a wooden boat washed up on shore amidst a neighbourhood of typical Aussie beach houses just south of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula. From the street the house’s irregular form reveals nothing of what unfolds once within the property.


At a closer look, the façade consists solely of a postbox. According to the design team at McBride Charles Ryan the openness of a holiday house in a beach community renders the front door arbitrary. You stop in for the weekend – your mates stop over for a Sunday afternoon drink.

The architects valued the existing scale of Blairgowrie – the house is certainly not an obstruction built within the community. Instead, it’s modest irregularity opens up into an impressive four-bedroom beach verandah. Bold blacks and whites sit on top of the stained timber floors, which run the length of the house.

A dramatic red support structure, the most striking interior feature, draws the divide between inside and out. According to the architects, the support shelves are where beach memories will be stored – a place where all the stuff you see every day will sit as you and your family grow. - Andrew J Wiener Photography: John Gollings.

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Dupli Casa, a private residence by the Neckar river, near the old town of Marbach in South- Western Germany, is a wonderfull example of connection and fluidity. It connects the inside with the outside, up with down, air with ground and - most cleverly - past with present and even future.

From the outside, the three-storey concrete villa looks like a bit like some sort of a fiberglass motorboat job gone funny, yet it also manages to look immensely appealing and intriguing. From some angles, the structure appears to be standing upside down - the lower exterior rim spilling onto the lawn and forming a part of a roof structure, if the building were to stand the other way around. It could have been blown there by the wind; it could be a StarWarsian vehicle frozen in place; it could be just taking off to outer space.


The outdoor swimming pool and the white surface surrounding it seem like a perfect reflection of the house, almost as if the house had been face down on the ground, and when it was lifted off the ground, the process had left an imprint of a swimming pool on the ground and the large window opening in the house.

The views from the inside are amazing, especially from the vast ground-level openings that again, give the sensation of flying, being airborne, weightlessness. Everything is fluid, flowing and smooth.

All of this is very much in keeping with the main inspiration for the house. The new residence follows the footprint of the previous dwelling and its numerous extensions. The idea was to let the 'family archaeology' continue in the new building. It's a house that remembers its beginnings in 1984 yet projects boldly into the future.

Dupli Casa is the work of Jurgen Mayer H., founder and principal of his cross-disciplinary studio. J. Mayer H. Architekten in Berlin. Other team members include Georg Schmidthals, Thorsten Blatter and Simon Takasak, plus Uli Wiesler's architecture studio based in Stuttgart. - Tuija Seipell

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We have found a candidate for the winner in the Coolest Home Theatre category. Just short of being a drive-in, this outdoor home theatre surpasses the stinky basement family 'media room' by close to a light year.
Glass walls, clean lines, uninterrupted space, uncluttered rooms, expensive detailing the hallmarks of a modern, upscale classic are all present in this stylish residence. Why anyone in possession of such an amazing home with such breathtaking views, would want to watch movies at home, is beyond us, but let's just say that we wouldn't mind being invited to a screening or two. The terraces, patios and the 65-foot infinity pool and spa will keep cinematically uninterested guests entertained as well. And we'll all stay at the separate guest house, of course.

But we must admit we are still lacking an invite to the 5,800-square-foot Skyline residence overlooking Hollywood and downtown LA. The visit is up to the owner of the home, architect Hagy Belzberg, a Harvard graduate (1991) who interned in Frank Gehry's office.

The opulent home was designed by the entire team of his Santa Monica-based, 13-member Belzberg Architects that the now 43-year-old Hagy Belzberg founded in 1997. - Tuija Seipell

www.thecoolhunter.net

Arquitecto: sanzpont [arquitectura]
Equipo de Proyecto: Victor Sanz, Sergio Sanz, Omar Cabrera, Tania Cota
Ubicación: Avda. Bonampak, Puerto Cancún, Cancún, México
Superficie: 36.289 m2
Fecha de Diseño: 2008 -
Cliente: GSI
Renders: Jose Miguel Cano, Victor Sanz

La Torre GSI es un edificio de 20 niveles para uso comercial, hostelería y oficinas. El edificio está compuesto por dos cuerpos verticales que se unen en la parte superior por 2 puentes habitables con jardín interior formando un gran encuadre del paisaje natural.

El edificio se protege del sol en su cara poniente por una “fachada ventilada” de alucobond en forma de escamas y la luz indirecta se filtra en su interior entre las lamas horizontales de su contorno.

En la fachada oriente, la piel del edificio está diseñada con un juego de cristales serigrafiados, sandblasteados y transparentes que aprovechan las vistas del campo de golf de Puerto Cancún y el Mar Caribe. Cuenta con dos niveles de estacionamientos integrados con vegetación en talud y una plaza pública elevada que genera un gran balcón urbano.

El diseño interior del Centro Comercial en los primeros niveles, expresa su dinamismo y continuidad espacial que invitan a subir a otra terraza aún más elevada a sentarse a tomarse un café y disfrutar de las vistas.

Además de eso, el edificio abre la oportunidad al público de seguir subiendo, ya que cuenta con un restaurant mirador lounge en su nivel superior. De esta forma, se integra esta infraestructura vertical con el habitante de la ciudad y su entorno urbano.

PUBLICADO EN: Arquitectura Comercial, Edificios, Hoteles y Restaurants, Obras Destacadas , México, uso mixto
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Refugios temporales, a través de una piel diseñada para usarse especialmente después de un desastre natural. El refugio construído en base a una tela de hormigón, puede ofrecer una estructura más permanente, a prueba de fuego y estéril en su interior.

El material del refugio “dentro de una bolsa” es una lona de hormigón prefabricado con un interior de plástico inflable, que se ancla por puertas de acero en cada extremo.

Su fácil montaje requiere de sólo dos personas y se puede levantar en menos de una hora, a través de aire – para “inflar” el interior – y de agua, ya que al rociarse se transforma en concreto en 24 horas.

El innovador material fue desarrollado por dos ingenieros – Will Crawford y Peter Brewin, de Concrete Canvas – y permite a los equipos de ayuda la construcción de estructuras sólidas en zonas de emergencia de forma rápida y sencilla.

Los refugios modulares también pueden unirse y expandirse para satisfacer las diferentes necesidades de los usuarios. El interior de plástico sellado proporciona un ambiente estéril para que equipos médicos puedan atender a heridos y enfermos. Se pensaron dos tamaños de refugio, de superficies de 25 y 54 m2, y tienen una vida útil mínima de 10 años.

PUBLICADO EN: En Detalle , arquitectura de emergencia, hormigón, innovación, refugio modular
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