a+t Blog

Interboro Partners. Lentspace. New York

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:08:17 +0200

A Manhattan site is waiting for the financial crisis to reach its end. Until this occurs, the owner has allowed the land to be temporarily occupied by an intervention enabling daytime access to the plot. Inside the area, a non-profit organization is to take charge of programming the activities.

This is a transitory occupation of the location which can easily be transferred to other voids cropping up due the downturn in property development.

Pages from the project published in .

Caruso St John. Walsall Art Gallery. United Kingdom

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:25:29 +0200

The Walsall Art Gallery has an insitu concrete structure whose walls form the primary structure and define the main interior spaces of the building. Pre-cast floors span between interior and perimeter walls, the depth of the joist element of the floor construction is sized according to the space being spanned rather than to the structural span.

The structure of the building establishes the external profile of the gallery and a collection of differently sized interior spaces gathered t.

VIDEO. Michel Desvigne. Seguin Island Gardens. Boulogne-Billancourt. France

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:19:49 +0200

The Île Seguin-Rives de Seine urban plan, a new stretch of multifunctional city, is coming to life on the former land of the Renault factory. Jean Nouvel, who has planned a series of large facilities around a central park, is in charge of the plan for the Seguin Island. The Seguin Island Gardens, designed by Michel Desvigne, occupy the site of the future park and serve as a seed for future planning. The intervention is of a temporary nature (hence the economy of materials) and will allo.

Melbourne CBD Waterfront. Birrarung Marr, Federation Square. Australia

Tue, 8 May 2012 11:21:28 +0200

Federation Square (Lab Architecture, Studio Bates Smart) is the creation of a new urban order on a site that never existed. More than just a set of buildings, Federation Square is the new centre of cultural activity for Melbourne. The project demanded the design of a new civic square, capable of accommodating up to 35,000 people in an open-air amphitheatre, including cultural and commercial buildings. The cultural and commercial facilities combine for almost 44,000 m2. They comprise new .

Re.architecture, Tactics in the Pavillon de L'Arsenal

Thu, 3 May 2012 10:50:34 +0200

The Pavillon de l’Arsenal has invited fifteen European agencies that question the way that modern-day cities are built to participate in the Re.architecture, Re.cycle, Re.use, Re.invest, Re.build exhibition. Through their original strategies, these architects enact change upon cities which in turn impact on city-life.

If you are interested in these kind of interventions within the citie.

'Altruistic and rule-breaking'

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:17:33 +0200

This is how Daniel Carrapa, editor of the portuguese blog A Barriga de um Arquitecto, defined the interventions published in the latest number of a+t magazine, Strategy and Tactics in Public Space.

According to him, "the interventions featured contain different approaches and take p.

Base Paysagistes. Prés de Lyon park. Troyes. France

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:56:20 +0200

The park of Prés de Lyon is located in Champagne-Ardenne, on the city of La Chapelle St-Luc, next to Troyes. It was built in the 70’s and then stopped being taken care of. Therefore, Base Paysagistes tried to make it accessible and attractive again.

First part of the job consisted of remodelling paths, planting, landscaped earthwork. Several public facilities already existed, but people are not really there. The archite.

S333. Schots 1 and 2 in CiBoGa. The Netherlands

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:37:48 +0200

Schots 1 & 2 could be seen as a contemporary reading of the 'Megaform'. This is a large complex system that extends horizontally capable of inflecting the existing urban landscape. It acts as a continuation of the surrounding topography and orientates itself towards the densification of the urban fabric. Therefore Schots 1 & 2 is conceived as a single building form, which is however sculpted by flows that allows the blocks to evolve independently above street level.

Project av.

a+t retrieves over 150 projects in pdf

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:02:16 +0200

Throughout its 20 year history, a+t magazine has published an essential collection of architectural articles and projects.

Most of the issues containing them are now out of print regarding the print version so as a result a+t architecture publishers have decided to retrieve all this material which gives a view of recent architecture and to facilitate pdf access.

Each product or arti.

Density is Home. Case studies (6)

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:20:34 +0200

a+t research group selected 14 case studies of collective housing for the book Density is Home. This sixth post about the publication features the 4 towers Osdorp, by Wiel Arets, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The operation finalises the edge of the redevelopment plan for the south-west quadrant of Osdorp. It involves the plot which .

Density is Home. Case studies (5)

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:21:09 +0200

a+t research group selected 14 case studies of collective housing for the book Density is Home. This fifth post about the publication features the Coming Out housing project, by Edouard François, in Grenoble, France.

This development offers dwellings for sale or rental in three blocks which have been separated enabling light t.

Density is Home. Case studies (4)

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:36:07 +0200

a+t research group selected 14 case studies of collective housing for the book Density is Home. This fourth post about the publication features the Hiphouse housing project, by Kempe Thill, in Zwolle, The Netherlands.

Hiphouse is a manifesto by its creators in defence of social housing, as opposition to the growing indifference of li.

Density is Home. Case studies (3)

Wed, 4 Apr 2012 09:32:02 +0200

a+t research group selected 14 case studies of collective housing for the book Density is Home. This third post about the publication features the Arch Street housing project, by S333, in London.

Arch Street will be used to house some of the residents who have had to leave the Heygate Estate. The estate was built as a model for urban housing in the 70s and failed because it was not a safe place, the maintenance costs were extremely high and its refurbishment was not feasible.

Users have outdoor space in each dwelling via balconies or private gardens and furthermore have shared raised terraces and ground floor courtyards.

The building is given an identity through the facades, clad with high-density stratified strips of wood, with a pattern which reminds one of the marquetry works carried out by the tradesmen who occupied the area in the early XXth Century.

The insulation against the noise of the viaduct and the road is carried out using acoustic block insulation and by reducing thermal bridging.

Density is Home. Case studies (2)

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 09:54:48 +0200

a+t research group selected 14 case studies of collective housing for the book Density is Home. This second post about the publication features the Can Travi elderly housing project, by Serrat, Egea and García, in Barcelona, Spain.

The building aims to blend naturally into the location, a site with a difference in height of 3..

Density is Home. Case studies (1)

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 17:50:44 +0200

a+t research group selected 14 case studies of collective housing for the book Density is Home. Today, we begin a series of 6 posts about that publication. The first post features the Monte Hacho Housing project, by MGM, in Ceuta, Spain..

Last 50 copies of a+t Hybrids III

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:51:03 +0100

The function of living is the most difficult to insert into hybrid programmes. Throughout this double issue which brings to a close the Hybrids series, a+t graphically analyses 20 recent projects and supports the inclusion of housing in mixed developments.

The volume also includes a historical analysis of 12 classic examples where the differences between hybrid buildings and social condensers are clearly outlined.

Archidose has published a review of the a+t magazine issue entitled Strategy Space.

According to John Hill, Archidose's editor, 'the strategies (in this issue) are also ways to link the projects and give readers a w.

Strategy and tactics for the public realm

Thu, 1 Mar 2012 11:02:37 +0100

a+t number 37, entitled Strategy and Tactics in Public Space, has been reviewed on the architecture blog ArchDaily.

According to it, \"the topic takes on how to address the conflict and fog created in many of the occupy protests, making the issue relevant to the larger discussio.

Analytic tools for assesing public space

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:26:38 +0100

Editorial of a+t magazine 38, entitled Strategy and Tactics in Public Space:

\"Although it might seem paradoxical, we believe that the Strategy series is a good context to include some Tactical Urbanism projects. As far as public space is concerned, both strategy and tactics are tools of equal value.

Ecosistema Urbano. Ecoboulevard. Vallecas. Madrid. Spain

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:53:48 +0200

On the edges of the current city, on an arid gypsum landscape, rapidly rises the enextension of the Vallecas district. This urban planning project is part of an ambitious, voracious, anodyne enlargement operation that will have Madrid’s municipal area to the brim. This hostile fact has served as a reagent, with Ecosistema Urbano drawing up a proposal for an ecological boulevard. Winner of a competition organized by Madrid’s City Hall, the proposal calls for the building of three l.

NOW ON SALE a+t 38 Strategy and Tactics in Public Space

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:38:05 +0100

In the latest issue in the Strategy series, a+t extends its field of research to the system of tactics. While the first two issues in the series involved approaching the project through the strategies identified in it, Strategy and Tactics in Public Space aims to define the strategy in relation to the tactics. Javier Mozas looks at the context from which it emerges and develops the system of tactics applied to public space offering his view of the actors involved, the modus operandi and the realms in which it takes place. Based on this view, a+t has chosen 8 tactical actions which it considers to be action types: re-using what is useless, low-cost self-building, farming the city, playing to change reality, negotiating at all levels, acting generously, using direct action and aspiring to utopia.

Coll-Leclerc. TMB Park. Barcelona. Spain

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:56:05 +0200

The park above the Horta depot, more than just a green area, is a great open space similar to the plaza of Güell Park. It has a thick, hollow construction and therefore a relationship between height and depth exists which connects it to the first Giacometti sculptures. It is a 90 degree rotation, an overhang of the facade on deck. The facade is the deck and the deck is the facade.

The second operation is the change of scale which will serves us as reinforcement for ambiguity, tur.

Topotek1. Maselake Industrial Site. Spandau. Berlin

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:58:21 +0200

Along the river Havel chain of lakes and waterways the former industrial quarters of Berlin- Spandau are in the course of urban reconfiguration. While the many waterfront sites in the vast area have been converted to residential developments, the evolvement of the inland sites is following at a more careful pace. The branch canal is part of the historic industrial structures where much of the former industrial structure and charm remains. The short piece of promenade along Maselake Canal gras.

Froetscher Lichtenwagner, Idealice. O-Dorf Square. Innsbruck. Austria

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:37:05 +0100

The Olympic Village in Innsbruck was built for the 1964 and 1976 Olympic Games and is a highrise housing complex with 8,000 inhabitants. It exhibits all the characteristics of an European peripheral housing estate and struggles with the same problems: lacking infrastructure, insuffcient cultural life, monofunctionalism, as well as segregation of ethnic minorities. Through the Europan IV competition, the city of Innsbruck took the first step to the revaluation of the neighbourhood. The p.

Strategy Space on ArchDaily

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:01:18 +0200

a+t number 37, entitled Strategy Space. Landscape Urbanism Strategies, has been reviewed on the architecture blog ArchDaily:

"Landscape Urbanism is the new black in architecture and this magazine, part of a+t Strategy series, has heads turning. There are a doze.

Martín Lejárraga. Torre-Pacheco Library Square. Murcia. Spain

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:35:27 +0100

This project, by adding multifunctionality to the traditional programme of a library, proposes new ways of approaching reading. An outdoor reading patio, a night study area, lecture halls for courses and conferences, and an area for an exhibition hall are added to the usual libraryrooms, completing the city’s cultural opportunities. The intervention also serves to improve the aesthetic standard of its surroundings and takes on the outdoor public space, blurring the limits between park a.

Kristine Jensen. Prags Boulevard. Copenhagen. Denmark

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:03:53 +0200

Prag’s boulevard, which is surrounded by inhomogeneous uses –industry, homes, traffic and urban activities– was inspired by their robust character. For its redevelopment a progression of activity areas is counterbalanced with a continuous green mall. Among the programmed sites are a garden, a cage, a sporting court, a skating-area and an amphitheatre. This guarantees there is ample space for sports and leisure, but also assures that this can coexist with special events like .

Dbook. Examples of density (6)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:09:34 +0200

The graphs shown here analyze the Froetscher Lichtenwagner project in Innsbruck, Austria. This project seeks to confront the dilemma that many suburbs in our cities face. These suburbs have become true breeding grounds for marginalisation and disenchantment. In a context of high population density, the project lightens up the urban fabric, introducing a reduced number of housing units in comparison the large size of the plot. At the same time it also brings a high programmatic density, which .

Dbook. Examples of density (5)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:25:18 +0200

The graphs shown here analyze the Belzunce, Díaz Mauriño and García Millán project in Bilbao, Spain. This proposal, winner of the competition Europan IV, involves the recovery of the lands of a disused mine next to a very densely populated working class neighbourhood. It is part of a zoning operation of the authors who then afterwards break up into different tasks, according to the division of the plot. This intervention is very directly connected to the proje.

Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The High Line Sections 1 & 2. New York. United States

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:37:29 +0200

At a+t we have followed this project from the start*. Here we include the complete project with special focus on the most recent stretch: stage 2. The original strategies have been maintained in this sector although they have been adapted to the narrower character of the stretch and its rectilinear layout. The flooring based on pre-fabricated concrete components, the plantations, the components, the lighting and the access systems have all been maintained. The difference resides in the fact t.

James Corner Field Operations. Race Street Pier. Philadelphia. United States

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:57:23 +0200

This is one of the first interventions to give Philadelphia back its river. The run-down waterfront has freed up large areas of public spaces which the authorities want to link up to the business district. This operation is similar to the recovery of the Brooklyn waterfront, where the pier structures were also put to use. A ramp allows the space to be divided into two levels, connected by stands. On the lower platform, a multi-purpose field occupies most of the space and two perforations in t.

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Brooklyn Bridge Park. New York. United States

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:03:06 +0200

We cover the first stage of an ambitious plan to convert the harbour docks of the banks of the East River. 34 hectares in total will have been converted to public space when the works come to an end. To finance these works, part of the land belonging to the park, on which housing and a hotel with the best views of Manhattan will be built, has been put on the market. The existing warehouses will be sold off once recycled and business and cultural concessions will be set up. The end goal of thi.

Stosslu. Erie Street Plaza. Milwaukee. United States

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:07:40 +0200

The Third Ward district in Milwaukee is a former industrial neighbourhood which is fast becoming one of the most active areas in the city. Housing, stores and art galleries occupy the former industrial warehouses. The new square serves as a link between the walk which runs alongside the Milwaukee River from the business district and the green corridor which runs alongside the shore of Lake Michigan. A hybrid plan between a square and a park is adapted to the changing uses of a neighbourhood u.

Studio Associato Secchi-Viganò. Theater Square. Antwerp. Belgium

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:33:22 +0200

The Theatre Square was an enormous undefined space in the centre of Antwerp which was not frequented often. Despite its strategic location, the lack of legibility was causing the users to hurry off after the shows. The proposal is based on linking up small legible friendly and safe spaces to bring back the public. For this reason the site has been divided into four recognizable areas: a garden on the south side, a tree-lined walk, a service street and a covered square which works for all type.

José Antonio Martínez Lapeña & Elías Torres. Hercules Mall. Seville. Spain

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:41:04 +0200

This space in the historic centre of Seville has been remodelleded in a single approach, incorporating neighbour and municipal requests. One single paving coloured according to the Seville soil brings together the entire space without any sharp level change. The intervention is camouflaged between the trees and the setting is regenerated, discretely, reinterpreting that already existent. Simultaneously, 500 m away, the Plaza de la Encarnación has also been remodelled, inviting round a .

Burgos Garrido, Porras La Casta, Rubio A. Sala, West8. Madrid Rio. Spain

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:17:47 +0100

This is another of the projects which given the scope we have been following from the very beginning. Without going into the overwhelming figures which have accompanied the tunnelling for the motorway, we echo the capacity for change of the new park which is spreading out over the tunnels. Apart from the visual enhancement of the ill-treated river banks, the disappearance of the background noise and the pollution or how the right bank neighbourhoods have been brought closer to the downtown ar.

Paredes Pino. Open Center for Public Activities. Cordoba. Spain

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:18:15 +0100

The project replaces a recently-built square which had no appeal whatsoever. Now, the parasols shelter a protected space for leisure activities and a twiceweekly market. Furthermore, the place serves as an anteroom for the new hospital which is being built on the adjacent site.The coverings are dealt with using light metal elements, of different diameters and variable heights, allowing light to reflect onto the white-coloured lower sides. The ground plan is handled using a uniform surface are.

Alday Jover. Saragossa Tramway. Saragossa. Spain

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:18:46 +0100

The new infrastructure crosses the southern half of the city and the public spaces which run alongside have been redesigned. Following an approach which treats the downtown area and the outskirts the same way, pedestrians, cyclists, cars and public transport have all been integrated. Tram stops along the route protect from the intense sun and winds inherent to the city’s climate, integrating all installations into their structure (lights, traffic lights, street lighting and telecommunic.

Topotek1. Theresienhöhe Railway Cover. Munich. Germany

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:19:15 +0100

Theresienhöhe is a new neighbourhood close to the centre of Munich, built on the lands of a former trade fair centre which has now been dismantled. The city planning project is a dense group of housing blocks, which needed an open public space to compensate for the few views the compact grid afforded. The space over the train tracks is laid out inspired by rows of carriages. The rubber floored play areas, the fields and the large sandy area adjoin each other on the central strip o.

Global. Lisbon Bicycle Path. Lisbon. Portugal

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:19:41 +0100

We promote means of transport co-existing together in the public space in our cities and the integration of sustainable mobility into the everyday space. The cycle way in Lisboa forms part of an ambitious urban plan for cycle paths. This route connects the centre up with the local train, the ferry port and several historical enclaves. The operation is very simple and the budget is very low: an asphalt strip runs through different places and integrates the existing pavings where they can be pr.

SLA. Fredericia C-Temporary Park. Denmark

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:20:08 +0100

Implementing the urban plan drawn up by KCAP will mean extending the surface area of centre of Fredericia by 25%. In the time this plan is being drawn up, a very low cost temporary park will occupy this former industrial brownfield site. The park, laid out according to historic maps, recreates the landscape of the urban voids and will function as a framework for multiple uses to be defined by the users. Different activities related to health and fitness, subject to a process of constant mutat.

Topotek1. Theresienhöhe railway cover. Munich

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:21:09 +0100

Dbook. Examples of density (4)

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:31:11 +0100

The graphs shown here analyze the Paredes Pedrosa project in Copenhagen. The goal of this project is not only to satisfy the needs of a social housing programme but also to articulate an urban area which benefits the city. The mark of the builidngs is set on a flat space, with an important visual presence on the adjoining territory and it is spread out rhythmically becoming higher as it reaches the vertex of its plot. The two five-storey blocks create two open public spaces which serve as sma.

Diario sobre la memoria

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:53:03 +0100

Extracto del artículo de Javier Mozas publicado en Rashomon La triple verdad de la arquitectura.

\"...Esa tarde K. había estado enseñándonos Berlín-Mitte. El sábado anterior la ciudad había sido tomada por la Love Parade y Tiergarten todavía estaba siendo desocupado de las enormes cantidades de b.

DBOOK. Examples on density (3)

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:31:38 +0100

The graphs shown here analyze the BIG+JDS project in Copenhagen. This project joins the main ideas that characterise the Orestad urban plan, a variety of uses, vertical distribution of collective spaces and the elimination of parking spaces on the lot. The authors pay homage to l\'Unité d\'Habitation inside t.

La condición moral de los materiales

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:53:24 +0100

Extracto del artículo de Javier Mozas publicado en Rashomon La triple verdad de la arquitectura.

\"Mies van der Rohe tenía la creencia de que el arte de la construcción debía de basarse en los materiales. En el programa docente que envió a Henry T. Heald, decano del Instituto Armour (más tarde se convertir&ia.

Michael Van Valkenburgh. Brooklyn Bridge Park. New York

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:22:42 +0100

Author of the video: McGraw Hill Project published in a+t 37 Strategy Space

In a+t 37 Strategy Space

Dbook. Examples of density (2)

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:32:25 +0100

The graphs shown here analyze the De Architekten cie project in Almere, the Netherlands. It is located in the urban plan of Almere Centrum, designed by OMA. The building contributes a high residential density to a much less dense plan. It proposes up to 20 types of housing unit and harmonises its urban profile. In this way, it is an exception to the recent Dutch tradition which was not one to promote height in urban plans built literally from scratc.