IIDA Italy International Design Award
Based on a thorough analysis and deep understanding of people’s demand for habitant environment, the project has designed 8 high-rise and 7 low density foreign-style houses in clusters, revealing the oriental beauty, highlighting the essence of Minnan(referred to Southern Fujian Province) culture, and setting a model for low-density and comfortable habitant environment.
With the traditional etiquette order of entrance at three layers and typical oriental features, the project follows the essence of Chinese gardens, takes inspiration from tea, brush, and ink, aiming to create a vivid oriental courtyard, present the Chinese rites passed on for thousands of years and to reveal the true nature of life. Based on oriental elements of Chinese fashion and high-tech concepts, the project incorporates localized and intelligent living scenes into the site to create a unique, green, and healthy community.
The facade design is featured by the old-age elements of Minnan culture. By putting its focus on the overall layout, architectural form, and selected material, it manages to create a beautiful mansion with modern charm and set a model for novel habitant environment featured by Minnan culture. Besides, the design also highlights inheritance and research of local culture and integrates modern aesthetics with essences of old-age houses in Minnan, bringing both a modernized sense and a solemn and classical style to the buildings and featuring the cultural charm and a sense of honor and dignity.
The warm-toned design creates a sense of elegancy, dignity, and nobleness, while the detailed metal decorations add a sense of delicacy and luxury and highlight its excellent quality. The eave design absorbs the essence of traditional old-age houses in Minnan but uses modern, simplified faced instead to render a different charm. With protuding heads and slightly upwarped ends, the overhanging eave resembles the shape of dovetail, hence it’s also called dovetail ridge, bearing the positive meaning of “a bright future”. The combination of window variations and colorful changes on the local shutters work together to create the rhythmical charm on the horizontal side and form the upright and straight lines on the vertical side. Some more lines on the key areas could work wonders, injecting a sense of rhythm into the building, and with the thick walls and detailed decorations, all have created a sense of elegance.
Guangdong Tianyuan Architectural Design Co., Ltd., founded in 1992, is a private architectural design enterprise with modern management thinking, which was established earlier in China. Headquartered in Beijiao Town, Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, it has set up branches in Guangzhou, Changsha, Nanjing and Hong Kong respectively. The business scope covers planning and design, cultural and tourism planning, architectural scheme design, civil construction drawing design, mechanical and electrical design, intelligent design, BIM positive design, landscape design, interior design, and has the ability of professional integration design and consulting. It has Class A architectural design qualification, Class B planning qualification, Class C municipal construction qualification and Class II decoration construction qualification. It has passed the ISO9001: 2015 quality management system certification, and has been awarded as a contract abiding and trustworthy enterprise in Guangdong Province for 10 consecutive years. In 2018, it was rated as a high-tech enterprise by the state.
At present, the company has more than 500 employees, including 38 first class architects and 2 BIM national professional judges. It has been awarded as the vice chairman unit by China BIM Science and Technology Innovation Alliance. It has participated in the revision of national BIM standardization and has become a BIM engineer examination unit. At the same time, he has participated in the revision of national intelligent standards for a long time, and has been awarded the standing director unit and the top ten smart home brand enterprises by the Intelligent Building Branch of China Construction Association.
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The Gallery House, together with the recently finished Espai Saó, is part of a set of interventions carried out for the Mas Blanch i Jové winery, located in the small town of La Pobla de Cérvoles, in Lleida, province of Catalonia.
The house is an encounter between a family house, a small hotel, and an art gallery. In 2017, the owners of the Mas Blanch i Jové winery decided to buy an old house close to the winery, with the aim of reforming it to accommodate the growing number of visitors to the winery, but also to be used throughout the family at their meetings in the Little village.
In the process of the project conceptualization, RSA proposed to relate the house to the artistic experience of the winery itself, represented by the sculpture garden: every year, a renowned artist-sculptor is invited to build a sculpture in the vineyards, with total freedom of subject, location and material. Around the garden there are works by Joan Brossa, Frederic Amat, Evru, or the most recent by Eva Lootz. From now on, each artist will be asked to make a small intervention in the house, creating a joint experience in the visit to the different facilities of the winery.
The project proposes a clear and accurate division of the house by means of a cross established in plan and section, which opens four huge windows in each one of the facades of the house, putting it in close contact with the picturesque landscape of the place. This cross occupies and resolves the circulation spaces, widened to accommodate more function than the distributive itself. These spaces are cladded with cor-ten steel plates, an identifying material of the winery itself, omnipresent in the sculptures and works that Josep Guinovart, a renowned artist, intimate friend of the owners, made throughout his life for the winery. The steel, cold and not a domestic material, represents the exhibition spaces, housed in this cross. Around it, the domestic spaces are deployed, with a completely opposite materiality: mortars, cements and gray tones in the common ground floor spaces; and wood, ceramics and mirrors in the bedrooms upstairs. The material collision is direct on the upper floor: from the metallic and cold space of the exhibition areas, one accesses, through a door with different finish on each side, to the warm and comfortable wooden environments of the bedrooms.
The crucial point of the house is the center of the cross, solved by a small bridge that flies over the ground floor and from which the four large windows open with no frames: two small benches to admire the landscape finish off the axes of the bedrooms; two double height voids star in the remaining sides.
On the ground floor, the distribution takes place around a kitchen, toilets and warehouses block, connecting all areas in a circular path, increasing interior complexity, and passing through spaces of varying heights, compressing and decompressing the spaces. On the top floor, five bedrooms with their own bathrooms occupy the four corners. The same type of bedroom receives five variants, in particular in the bathrooms, each one of a different color, highlighted by the joint between ceramic tiles, the painting of the walls, and the color of the sinks themselves.
Outside, some interventions denote the new character of the house: the four new windows, which cross the facades, with a strange scale to the house itself; the carpet-like cladding of cor-ten steel access stairs; the new socles of the same material, as well as the porch of the entrance, and a greater homogeneity in the outer finishings.
A new fence of cor-ten steel plates closes the house to the outside, and according to the angle, closes or opens the house in view of the passerby.
Raúl Sánchez graduated architect from the architecture school in Granada, Spain. Since 2005 resides and works in Barcelona developing a professional activity which escapes specialization in order to cover all types of work and projects related to architecture, interiorism and design.
He is professor in ‘private perimeters’, a postgraduate diploma in interior design in Elisava School of Design, Barcelona.
The work of the office has numerous awards and is published worlwide in printed and online media.
Our approach to architecture and design is based on the encounter of humanism+technique: the former relies on the world of ideas, on the conceptual and cultural focus, while the latter brings the constructive coherence, the grammar, into the equation.
We don’t work with methods, we use no preconceived formulas, we just work with the space, and the space is the conjunction of material, construction, structure, light, color, texture… and thus, each new project is a new challenge
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This complex project began 8 years ago, going through all kinds of situations: squats, regulatory disagreements, changes in use, slow and complicated work...although the client's desire to leave the walls with exposed brick and using hydraulic mosaic (the cliché of Barcelona) remained unalterable. In addition, the requirements were to convert this small building located in the Borne district of Barcelona, from the end of the 19th century and with 4 floors (but barely 20sqm per floor), into a place where to be able to work and spend short stays in their visits to Barcelona, although, along these 8 years, the personal and family situation of the client has changed, to which the project has adapted.
The original situation of the property was in ruins, with very damaged floor slabs, weak stairs, parts of them demolished . Added to this was the need to adapt the building to current regulations, which made it practically impossible from the start to reuse the interior, proceeding to completely demolish the building, maintaining only the facades and dividing walls, and the roof slab (not the stair tower, which was rebuilt).
The construction process, slow and complex, at least allowed decisions to be made as the essence of the estate was revealed with the demolitions. Thus, once all the floors slabs had been demolished and the building was seen as a slender and tall prism formed by walls with a completely heterogeneous composition of all kinds of bricks and stones arranged without apparent order or composition, the idea of leaving all these walls exposed became conceptual: these four walls, over 15m high, are a museum of the building's history, where any trace of its construction (arches, lintels, stairs and beams), and of its use (mortar remains , furnishings, claddings..) will be left unaltered, exposed in all its crudeness. The new floors (3 in total) will be supported by new beams between the dividing walls, which will not touch either of the two facades: towards the main facade, a sheet of glass will separate them from it; and towards the interior façade, the stairwell will be a 4-story void that unites the entire interior and shows the surprising height of such a slender building. Thus, the project is defined, remaining to define the uses of each floor and resolve the technical issues.
Access-kitchen-dining room, living room, bathroom-dressing room, bedroom and terrace form, from bottom to top, the sequence of use. In any case, with the exception of kitchen furniture and bathroom equipment, nothing else occupies the floors, so that their uses can be reversed over time or need, as well as turning the floors into working spaces.
The presence of the installations, by ruling out grooves in the walls or small wells from the beginning, take on a special and relevant role inside: 7 stainless steel cylinders run the entire height of the building, conducting all the electrical, ventilation, plumbing, extraction, sanitation, air conditioning and telecommunications installations inside 6 of the cylinders, leaving one of them empty for future needs. These cylinders are not hidden and run through the building through furniture and floors. The rest of the installations are always visible, never built-in, highlighting the roughness of the masonry walls on which they are located, freeing them from new servitudes.
In terms of materiality, a certain refinement has been pursued in the new elements to be implemented, in opposition to the crude expressiveness of the existing walls, conscious that the space must house a home. Thus, the kitchen is a frosted brass piece of furniture, shiny and with reflections, with a white marble top; the bathroom equipment is paneled with lacquered wood in a slightly cream color, with black and brass details; the 'headboards' of the floors are covered in white microcement; the hydraulic mosaic, microcement and oak floors add warmth and color to the interior; and the lacquered wood ceilings incorporate registers and grids to 'design' these needs.
The structure is all painted white, in search of a certain material abstraction, especially in the development of the spiral staircase, which is developed as a free-standing cylinder that runs the entire height of the building without touching its walls at any time, offering Piranesian views helped by the heterogeneity of the walls and the diversity of points of view.
On the contrary, all the details on the existing walls are direct and raw: the window frames are made with direct mortar, the pre-frames are not concealed, and the structural elements of ties are left unpolished.
Above, on top of the stairwell, a skylight introduces a beautiful gradation of light until the lowest strata; towards the façade, the glass sheets bounce the lighting between floors and introduce ever-changing reflections, allowing the façade to be admired at its full height from the inside, just as it happens in the void of the staircase.
The main façade was rehabilitated following the strict dictates of the heritage department, returning it to an image of the past that it surely never had. Only at the entrance door were we free to invent a front that reproduces the three-dimensional design of the classic hydraulic mosaic (used on the ground floor and much loved by the client) with an exploded view of rhombuses and triangles finished with 3 types of aluminum, which conceals the door (only recognizable by the lock) and abstracts the entrance.
Raúl Sánchez graduated architect from the architecture school in Granada, Spain. Since 2005 resides and works in Barcelona developing a professional activity which escapes specialization in order to cover all types of work and projects related to architecture, interiorism and design.
He is professor in ‘private perimeters’, a postgraduate diploma in interior design in Elisava School of Design, Barcelona.
The work of the office has numerous awards and is published worlwide in printed and online media.
Our approach to architecture and design is based on the encounter of humanism+technique: the former relies on the world of ideas, on the conceptual and cultural focus, while the latter brings the constructive coherence, the grammar, into the equation.
We don’t work with methods, we use no preconceived formulas, we just work with the space, and the space is the conjunction of material, construction, structure, light, color, texture… and thus, each new project is a new challenge
GLORY MANSION is located in the north of Fengxian District of Shanghai, surrounded by built residential areas, with a rich living atmosphere. The overall planning of the project adopts the design concept of "one axis, one belt and two cores". In the middle of the place, a community life axis is built in combination with a public passage, which echoes the community activity land on the east side. In the northwest corner, a community landscape core is built in combination with the urban landscape and the river channel on the north side. In the southeast corner, a community vitality core is built in combination with a public activity space. A landscape belt running through the north and south connects the two cores. The whole project is divided into two sub districts, North and south. The community life axis between the two sub districts distributes community spaces with multiple functions such as community schools, fitness points and community canteens. In combination with the community life axis, independent pedestrian entrances and exits are set in the two districts. Within the project, the spacing between buildings is optimized through refined design, so that each building has better landscape resources. The interaction between the whole community and urban blocks is strong, which also ensures the privacy within the community and creates a city friendly community. The project adopts the public building facade design method, focusing on vertical lines, emphasizing the upright and upward feeling of the building, and showing the modernism design aesthetics. The large lines of the building facade are made of aluminum plates, which make the lines more neat and straight and have a higher sense of quality.
Shanghai PTArchitects was founded in 2003. It is a founding member of the Chinese organization of PT DESIGN, a foreign-funded architectural design brand in China, and a Chinese partner of the world-renowned design brand Australia PT DESIGN Co., Ltd. After more than ten years of development, Shanghai PTArchitects has nearly 1,000 elites in the design industry in China, with divisions in Chengdu, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Wuhan. With its continuous innovation ability, Shanghai PTArchitects has become an outstanding solution design company in the industry. In the tide of urban development in China, Shanghai PTArchitects and its partners adhere to the design concept of "design leads life, construction realizes ideals", and jointly Create beautiful city business cards and livable communities. Shanghai PTArchitects focuses on the professional services of high-end urban development products. In the fields of architectural design, landscape design, interior design, etc., based on the principle of "innovation, quality, and service", it is committed to working hand in hand with well-known urban developers in the world and China—— "Design, lead a better life". At present, on the basis of becoming a leader in high-end quality residential design in the field of urban development, Shanghai PTArchitects pays more attention to the design and operation of large-scale urban commercial complexes, the green energy-saving and healthy development of 5A-level offices, and the humanized design of five-star hotels. , Planning and design of characteristic towns, urban renovation, and renewal of historical and cultural buildings. Shanghai PTArchitects is committed to comprehensively and meticulously understanding the owner's needs in the design process, with a high degree of originality and rich experience in quality projects, to increase the premium rate of products, and by providing customers with comprehensive and professional comprehensive solutions and excellent design Service experience, establish close cooperation and continuous mutual trust relationship with owners. Shanghai Porto's current partners include well-known global and domestic developers, such as: Vanke Real Estate, Greenland Group, Gemdale Group, Poly Group, China Merchants Shekou, China Overseas Properties, Longfor Properties, Sunac China, China Resources Land, Yanlord, China Jinmao, Tahoe Group, Seazen Holdings, CIFI Group, China Railway Construction, China Metallurgical Group, Beijing Capital Land, Zhengrong Group, Ronshine Group, Blu-ray Real Estate, etc., the design business has spread all over the country in 28 provincial-level administrative regions, nearly Hundreds of cities.
