Reviewing the archive with fresh eyes, we think about what else could be offered, what could be improved, and at the same time we draw out particularly good techniques for new projects.
When reviewing the archive with fresh eyes, we think about what options could be offered, what could be improved, and at the same time, we learn particularly good practices for new projects.
Gray, dull, massive. These are the first associations when we hear the word concrete. However, adding pigment to the traditional mixture of cement, sand, gravel and water allows concrete to be colored in mass. And this allows you to highlight the volumes of the building, fit into the context of the surroundings and realize bold ideas, obtaining a more durable and reliable result than painting.
Yellow and red colors add iron oxide to concrete, cobalt oxide to blue and chrome oxide to &mdash green. A deep black color is obtained by using black iron oxide, carbon oxide and pozzolanic cement.
Here are a few projects using colored concrete.
The yellow color of the concrete references the traditional wall of adobe, while the material itself is durable, easy to produce and maintain.
The walls of pigmented concrete are perpendicular to the main axis of the house, and as slices the space into courtyards. The tinting in red is non-uniform, which enlivens the interior.
The only way not to age is to be born old. The concrete blocks are made in layers over each other, which gives a flowing effect on the façade.
The complex geometry of the facade combined with the anthracite concrete generates a play of light and shade. Depending on the weather and brightness, the color and character of the facade changes.
The individual flecks of dark brick draw attention. There are a lot of ready-made collections, and there are a bunch of contrasting ones (Bavarian masonry). But in ready-made collections mottled bricks or clinker tiles are mixed in roughly equal proportions. And to get the effect as pictured, you need to take one basic collection and mix in a small amount of contrasting bricks from another collection. And you get a unique beauty that no one else has.
It's even possible to make individual figures out of bricks, I once wrote about historical ornamental masonry, but there's a place for that in modern architecture too!"
The wooden office in Olgino, St. Petersburg.
Three-storey oblong-shaped building is based on 12 wooden frames, total area 1200 m².
The finishes use wood and brick. The long side walls are clad in brick with an interesting technique, part of the masonry is traditionally horizontal and part vertically oriented. The blocks alternate in a staggered pattern. The main facade is entirely glazed, and almost all the interior partitions are also in glass, creating a sense of openness and welcomingness.
The architects —of the bureau Conifer.
Working with an already defined architecture severely narrows the architect-designer's options. But we try& to& find& the& pluses,& using& this& as& a& test& of& skill. Paying attention to details and little things, we accomplish our goal with small changes.
For example, here are a few ways to work on a project in the sketch phase. You think you just change the shape of the second floor window, and it changes the whole look and feel of the house.
The customer wants the second option. Which one do you prefer?
The Art Nouveau design, flowing lines, stained glass. Elegant entrance group — wrought-iron canopy with large overhang on brackets.
Homes in this style are examples of a successful combination of conventionally Gothic and modern architecture. In spite of our "modern classics" growing out of classicism. We need to build more houses like this.
The "Gothic" part here is responsible for the Tudor style. In Canada, Western Europe and many American states, many new, private replicas of this medieval style (Tudor Revival) were built in the 19th and 20th centuries, expressing affluence and thoroughness in country houses and townhouses. Such architecture has shaped the taste for expensive housing there for the past 100 years.
And now that heritage is being developed and reimagined there. Including through redevelopment projects.
In Russia, mass-produced classical suburban housing relies on Greco-Roman aesthetics. Italian and Palladian palaces, Romanesque villas, Baroque mansions, once made with scope and understanding were cited in the popular "low" style. With great simplifications, of course. It turned out that the orderly "cubic" form formation becomes very dull without skillful and abundant decoration.
And then there are qualities in the "neoclassical house" which neoclassical houses lack: the free formation of the plan without the need for symmetry or fitting everything into a rectangle (hello, modernity!), free volumes, large multipart windows, an interesting broken line of the roof.
Already a proven, popular barnhaus is essentially the simplest of Tudorian architecture. But it lacks the complexity and convenience of a permanent dwelling.
Of course there is no stock of these houses in Russia and we will have to design them from scratch. This year we are accepting orders for the design of modern architecture with Gothic roots. Long live pinches and slimness!
All phases of the project are important. But the sketching part is the most important, in our opinion. It's through different ideas in the form of sketches that we establish a good rapport with the client, find a unique concept, and work out the details.
The Manhwaricano house in South Korea by Rieuldorang Atelier.
The house-manifesto proclamation of a new normality. The classic roof outline is hidden inside a cubic volume. The through-aisle — central element of the design, the result of the evolution of the concept «patio». Almost all of the windows face inward, not outward, conveying the message of turning inward and reflection.
The red brick house in Bentveld, Holland, was built in 1932. Eighty years later, the Baksvanwengerden architectural bureau redesigned the concept. The dark and blank facade was transformed into an open sunny space.
The house looks like a hut as the first floor extension continues the line of the gabled roof. The walls and partitions have been removed as much as possible to unify the space, and the panoramic glazing makes it even larger.
Modern houses with pinches in our facade database.
