NO.33.
New Department of Islamic Art Opens, France, 2012
•Year: 2005 - 2012
•Tipology: Museum
•Location: Paris, France > map
•Client: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
•Budget: 42 milion €
•Total Area/Surface/Volume: 6.800 Sq m.
•Awards: International competition. Winning project,
The new Department of Islamic Arts is designed by Milanese architect Mario Bellini and his French colleague Rudy Ricciotti, who won the commission through an international competition in 2005. Similar to I.M. Pei, the pair created a naturally lit, subterranean gallery space beneath an undulating, glass roof within the courtyard of the historic Cour Visconti.
Excavated to a depth of 12 meters (40 feet), the 2,800 square meter (over 30,000 square foot) open-plan gallery will become the new home of the Louvre’s prestigious collection of Islamic Arts. The gallery’s lower level and long sculptural stairway are comprised of a special black waxed concrete, providing a stark contrast to the seemingly floating glass roof and the nearly invisible glass perimeter walls.
One of the major challenges of the design was to create a contemporary addition that could respectfully coexist with the surrounding facades of the existing, 18th century Cour Visconti.
Bellini describes, “The solution was a foulard that undulates as if suspended in space by the wind, almost touching the ground of the courtyard at one point, but without totally encumbering it or contaminating the historic facades.”
He further argues, “Obviously, no references to flying carpets, Islamic veils or musciarabia: simply a deep respect for the Islamic collection, combined with a personal knowledge (gained during the course of numerous journeys) of its geographical and cultural context.”
The “enormous veil” is constructed of a free-form lattice of 8,000 steel tubes and insulating double glazing, cloaked in gold and silver aluminum mesh. Triangular polished aluminum honeycomb panels are also integrated into the floating structure to refract the external images and diffuse daylight.
The roof weighs a total of 120 tons with a thickness ranging from 20 centimeters to 1.50 meters and a maximum height of 8 meters. It is supported by eight “light” and “slightly inclined” pillars that accentuate a sense of lightness.
#addition , #new_design , #lighing ,
#interior_desigh , #museum
@revitalization
New Department of Islamic Art Opens, France, 2012
•Year: 2005 - 2012
•Tipology: Museum
•Location: Paris, France > map
•Client: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
•Budget: 42 milion €
•Total Area/Surface/Volume: 6.800 Sq m.
•Awards: International competition. Winning project,
The new Department of Islamic Arts is designed by Milanese architect Mario Bellini and his French colleague Rudy Ricciotti, who won the commission through an international competition in 2005. Similar to I.M. Pei, the pair created a naturally lit, subterranean gallery space beneath an undulating, glass roof within the courtyard of the historic Cour Visconti.
Excavated to a depth of 12 meters (40 feet), the 2,800 square meter (over 30,000 square foot) open-plan gallery will become the new home of the Louvre’s prestigious collection of Islamic Arts. The gallery’s lower level and long sculptural stairway are comprised of a special black waxed concrete, providing a stark contrast to the seemingly floating glass roof and the nearly invisible glass perimeter walls.
One of the major challenges of the design was to create a contemporary addition that could respectfully coexist with the surrounding facades of the existing, 18th century Cour Visconti.
Bellini describes, “The solution was a foulard that undulates as if suspended in space by the wind, almost touching the ground of the courtyard at one point, but without totally encumbering it or contaminating the historic facades.”
He further argues, “Obviously, no references to flying carpets, Islamic veils or musciarabia: simply a deep respect for the Islamic collection, combined with a personal knowledge (gained during the course of numerous journeys) of its geographical and cultural context.”
The “enormous veil” is constructed of a free-form lattice of 8,000 steel tubes and insulating double glazing, cloaked in gold and silver aluminum mesh. Triangular polished aluminum honeycomb panels are also integrated into the floating structure to refract the external images and diffuse daylight.
The roof weighs a total of 120 tons with a thickness ranging from 20 centimeters to 1.50 meters and a maximum height of 8 meters. It is supported by eight “light” and “slightly inclined” pillars that accentuate a sense of lightness.
#addition , #new_design , #lighing ,
#interior_desigh , #museum
@revitalization
NO.36.
Rock the Kasbah, Interior design by Philippe Xerri, Tunisia, Since 2011
•Designer: Philippe Xerri
•Location: Tunisia
•Project Year: Since 2011
Philippe Xerri is a Parisian designer and artist established in Tunisia since 2011.
Impressed by traditional techniques and the high quality of Tunisian craftsmanship, Philippe started designing ethnic-chic and modern furniture. The result is the “Rock the Kasbah” collection defined by the designer himself as “rock and design”! All his creations are tainted with a 1920’s and 1950’s style. Tunisia of course is a big aesthetic influence, as well as ancient civilizations’ heritage like Carthage, Tunis…Tunisian culture really transpires in Philippe Xerri’s creations as he is deeply inspired by people’s generosity, their hospitality and art of making the guest feel at home. Today, Rock the Kasbah collections are sold throughout the world, including Paris where Philippe Xerri opened his show-room.
Admiring the ancestral skills, he collaborates with thirty people from the best ateliers to create furniture and objects of decoration, successfully blending an urban spirit from the 50’s with an oriental charm thanks to its use of coloured fabrics.
#handicraft , #interior_desigh , #new_design , #preserve , #adaptive_reuese
@revitalization
Rock the Kasbah, Interior design by Philippe Xerri, Tunisia, Since 2011
•Designer: Philippe Xerri
•Location: Tunisia
•Project Year: Since 2011
Philippe Xerri is a Parisian designer and artist established in Tunisia since 2011.
Impressed by traditional techniques and the high quality of Tunisian craftsmanship, Philippe started designing ethnic-chic and modern furniture. The result is the “Rock the Kasbah” collection defined by the designer himself as “rock and design”! All his creations are tainted with a 1920’s and 1950’s style. Tunisia of course is a big aesthetic influence, as well as ancient civilizations’ heritage like Carthage, Tunis…Tunisian culture really transpires in Philippe Xerri’s creations as he is deeply inspired by people’s generosity, their hospitality and art of making the guest feel at home. Today, Rock the Kasbah collections are sold throughout the world, including Paris where Philippe Xerri opened his show-room.
Admiring the ancestral skills, he collaborates with thirty people from the best ateliers to create furniture and objects of decoration, successfully blending an urban spirit from the 50’s with an oriental charm thanks to its use of coloured fabrics.
#handicraft , #interior_desigh , #new_design , #preserve , #adaptive_reuese
@revitalization
NO.37.
DM2 Housing Residential Project In Porto, Portugal, 2014
•Architects: OODA
•Location: Rua D. Manuel II, 4050 Porto, Portugal
•Design Team: Diogo Brito, Rodrigo Vilas-Boas, Francisco Lencastre, Francisca Santos, Lourenço Menezes Rodrigues
•Area: 1100.0 sqm
•Project Year: 2014
OODA revives dm2 housing building in historic porto
portuguese architecture studio OODA, has completed the renovation of a 20th-century building in porto’s historic center, resulting in the ‘dm2 housing’ facility. intended primarily for students or other young people, the structure contains 17 units ranging between 28 – 105 sqm, as well as a distinctive semi-grassy parking area behind. a traditional dichromatic ceramic patterning is applied throughout the design, specifically on the front façade, exterior guardrails, and backyard landscape.
the building is composed of varying apartment configurations, ranging between one and two storeys. units are finished with wood floors, white walls, and black detailing. a central corridor is treated with engineered wood panels, and large mirrored walls to elongate the space. exterior façades retain many existing materials to preserve the structure’s legacy. the project serves to renew the property’s relevance for current day living, while respecting historic traditions.
—------------—
From the architect: One of the most demanding tasks in Porto nowadays is the intervention on the major amount of old and historical buildings of Porto´s downtown. This project is a renovation of a 20th century building to convert to a 17 housing unit for students and young people in general.
The DM2 Building, located in downtown Porto (priority intervention zone), in the area of protection of the National Museum Soares dos Reis, is dating the nineteenth century and their original composition the property was intended for a single dwelling taking ornamental and construction of the whole intrinsic characteristics of the buildings at the time, both in functional layout as an ornamental and aesthetic.
However, a later change occurred in late twentieth century, the building has undergone a profound change taking place inside caused by the modification of use required.
The property became divided by several independent floors with features framed in services and trade and lower floors have been completely redesigned and trace assets were hidden in part and / or removed from the particular frames original, wood structure of the floors (now concrete) and traditional skylight at top of stairs . Indeed , the draft D. Manuel intended to rebuild the property, returning the initial function of integral housing, recovering traces of hidden identity, reinterpreting traditional elements and giving the building a new sense of contemporary housing program with a set of typologies ace current market needs. So Manuel II building as a whole distributes 17 apartments T0 and T1 types, ranging in size between 28sqm and 105sqm, spread over 5 floors and are accompanied by a landscaped patio intended for parking.
The rehabilitation now completed, restores the original residential function, underlines the unique formal and constructive characteristics and adapt to a contemporary urban reality of the city of Porto.
#restoration , #revitalization , #rehabilitation , #residential , #lighting , #interior_desigh , #stair
@revitalization
DM2 Housing Residential Project In Porto, Portugal, 2014
•Architects: OODA
•Location: Rua D. Manuel II, 4050 Porto, Portugal
•Design Team: Diogo Brito, Rodrigo Vilas-Boas, Francisco Lencastre, Francisca Santos, Lourenço Menezes Rodrigues
•Area: 1100.0 sqm
•Project Year: 2014
OODA revives dm2 housing building in historic porto
portuguese architecture studio OODA, has completed the renovation of a 20th-century building in porto’s historic center, resulting in the ‘dm2 housing’ facility. intended primarily for students or other young people, the structure contains 17 units ranging between 28 – 105 sqm, as well as a distinctive semi-grassy parking area behind. a traditional dichromatic ceramic patterning is applied throughout the design, specifically on the front façade, exterior guardrails, and backyard landscape.
the building is composed of varying apartment configurations, ranging between one and two storeys. units are finished with wood floors, white walls, and black detailing. a central corridor is treated with engineered wood panels, and large mirrored walls to elongate the space. exterior façades retain many existing materials to preserve the structure’s legacy. the project serves to renew the property’s relevance for current day living, while respecting historic traditions.
—------------—
From the architect: One of the most demanding tasks in Porto nowadays is the intervention on the major amount of old and historical buildings of Porto´s downtown. This project is a renovation of a 20th century building to convert to a 17 housing unit for students and young people in general.
The DM2 Building, located in downtown Porto (priority intervention zone), in the area of protection of the National Museum Soares dos Reis, is dating the nineteenth century and their original composition the property was intended for a single dwelling taking ornamental and construction of the whole intrinsic characteristics of the buildings at the time, both in functional layout as an ornamental and aesthetic.
However, a later change occurred in late twentieth century, the building has undergone a profound change taking place inside caused by the modification of use required.
The property became divided by several independent floors with features framed in services and trade and lower floors have been completely redesigned and trace assets were hidden in part and / or removed from the particular frames original, wood structure of the floors (now concrete) and traditional skylight at top of stairs . Indeed , the draft D. Manuel intended to rebuild the property, returning the initial function of integral housing, recovering traces of hidden identity, reinterpreting traditional elements and giving the building a new sense of contemporary housing program with a set of typologies ace current market needs. So Manuel II building as a whole distributes 17 apartments T0 and T1 types, ranging in size between 28sqm and 105sqm, spread over 5 floors and are accompanied by a landscaped patio intended for parking.
The rehabilitation now completed, restores the original residential function, underlines the unique formal and constructive characteristics and adapt to a contemporary urban reality of the city of Porto.
#restoration , #revitalization , #rehabilitation , #residential , #lighting , #interior_desigh , #stair
@revitalization
NO.40.
DM2 Housing Residential Project In Porto, Portugal, 2014
• Architects: OODA
• Location: Rua D. Manuel II, 4050 Porto, Portugal
• Design Team: Diogo Brito, Rodrigo Vilas-Boas, Francisco Lencastre, Francisca Santos, Lourenço Menezes Rodrigues
• Area: 1100.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Joao Morgado
OODA revives dm2 housing building in historic porto
portuguese architecture studio OODA, has completed the renovation of a 20th-century building in porto’s historic center, resulting in the ‘dm2 housing’ facility. intended primarily for students or other young people, the structure contains 17 units ranging between 28 – 105 sqm, as well as a distinctive semi-grassy parking area behind. a traditional dichromatic ceramic patterning is applied throughout the design, specifically on the front façade, exterior guardrails, and backyard landscape.
the building is composed of varying apartment configurations, ranging between one and two storeys. units are finished with wood floors, white walls, and black detailing. a central corridor is treated with engineered wood panels, and large mirrored walls to elongate the space. exterior façades retain many existing materials to preserve the structure’s legacy. the project serves to renew the property’s relevance for current day living, while respecting historic traditions.
—------------—
From the architect: One of the most demanding tasks in Porto nowadays is the intervention on the major amount of old and historical buildings of Porto´s downtown. This project is a renovation of a 20th century building to convert to a 17 housing unit for students and young people in general.
The DM2 Building, located in downtown Porto (priority intervention zone), in the area of protection of the National Museum Soares dos Reis, is dating the nineteenth century and their original composition the property was intended for a single dwelling taking ornamental and construction of the whole intrinsic characteristics of the buildings at the time, both in functional layout as an ornamental and aesthetic.
However, a later change occurred in late twentieth century, the building has undergone a profound change taking place inside caused by the modification of use required.
The property became divided by several independent floors with features framed in services and trade and lower floors have been completely redesigned and trace assets were hidden in part and / or removed from the particular frames original, wood structure of the floors (now concrete) and traditional skylight at top of stairs . Indeed , the draft D. Manuel intended to rebuild the property, returning the initial function of integral housing, recovering traces of hidden identity, reinterpreting traditional elements and giving the building a new sense of contemporary housing program with a set of typologies ace current market needs. So Manuel II building as a whole distributes 17 apartments T0 and T1 types, ranging in size between 28sqm and 105sqm, spread over 5 floors and are accompanied by a landscaped patio intended for parking.
The rehabilitation now completed, restores the original residential function, underlines the unique formal and constructive characteristics and adapt to a contemporary urban reality of the city of Porto.
#restoration , #revitalization , #rehabilitation , #residential , #lighting , #interior_desigh , #stair , #Portugal , #typography
@revitalization
DM2 Housing Residential Project In Porto, Portugal, 2014
• Architects: OODA
• Location: Rua D. Manuel II, 4050 Porto, Portugal
• Design Team: Diogo Brito, Rodrigo Vilas-Boas, Francisco Lencastre, Francisca Santos, Lourenço Menezes Rodrigues
• Area: 1100.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Joao Morgado
OODA revives dm2 housing building in historic porto
portuguese architecture studio OODA, has completed the renovation of a 20th-century building in porto’s historic center, resulting in the ‘dm2 housing’ facility. intended primarily for students or other young people, the structure contains 17 units ranging between 28 – 105 sqm, as well as a distinctive semi-grassy parking area behind. a traditional dichromatic ceramic patterning is applied throughout the design, specifically on the front façade, exterior guardrails, and backyard landscape.
the building is composed of varying apartment configurations, ranging between one and two storeys. units are finished with wood floors, white walls, and black detailing. a central corridor is treated with engineered wood panels, and large mirrored walls to elongate the space. exterior façades retain many existing materials to preserve the structure’s legacy. the project serves to renew the property’s relevance for current day living, while respecting historic traditions.
—------------—
From the architect: One of the most demanding tasks in Porto nowadays is the intervention on the major amount of old and historical buildings of Porto´s downtown. This project is a renovation of a 20th century building to convert to a 17 housing unit for students and young people in general.
The DM2 Building, located in downtown Porto (priority intervention zone), in the area of protection of the National Museum Soares dos Reis, is dating the nineteenth century and their original composition the property was intended for a single dwelling taking ornamental and construction of the whole intrinsic characteristics of the buildings at the time, both in functional layout as an ornamental and aesthetic.
However, a later change occurred in late twentieth century, the building has undergone a profound change taking place inside caused by the modification of use required.
The property became divided by several independent floors with features framed in services and trade and lower floors have been completely redesigned and trace assets were hidden in part and / or removed from the particular frames original, wood structure of the floors (now concrete) and traditional skylight at top of stairs . Indeed , the draft D. Manuel intended to rebuild the property, returning the initial function of integral housing, recovering traces of hidden identity, reinterpreting traditional elements and giving the building a new sense of contemporary housing program with a set of typologies ace current market needs. So Manuel II building as a whole distributes 17 apartments T0 and T1 types, ranging in size between 28sqm and 105sqm, spread over 5 floors and are accompanied by a landscaped patio intended for parking.
The rehabilitation now completed, restores the original residential function, underlines the unique formal and constructive characteristics and adapt to a contemporary urban reality of the city of Porto.
#restoration , #revitalization , #rehabilitation , #residential , #lighting , #interior_desigh , #stair , #Portugal , #typography
@revitalization
Below, at the curved wall entry to the mosque, the pixelated and equally structural word Insan (Human) is added to the steel plates, to create a Hegelian dialectic of God/Man. The juxtaposition of both renders the idea of humanity as an integral part of the equation with God, placed in a new dialectic, and becomes a reminder of the humanistic tradition of Islam, as referenced in noted Islamic theologian Mohammad Arkoun’s book Humanisme et Islam – Combats et Propositions (Paris, Vrin, 2005) which places Islam at the origin of the18th century Enlightenment project.
Insan becomes the epicenter of the ground plane of the plaza.
As one moves around the mosque, the planar reading of the mosque formed by the steel plates becomes transparent, while the two words (Allah/Insan) becomes more apparent, and vice versa. The overall lightness of the mosque’s tectonic sits also in a relational contrast to the heaviness of the Moukhtara’s palace stone volumetric.
A fig tree shades the new plaza, and creating a book end along with the existing Olive tree on the other side of the street, alluding to the ‘Fig and Olive’ verse (souret at-teen) in the Quraan and referencing the importance of both trees in Christian tradition as well. At the threshold, the entry to the mosque’s hall, which accommodates both women and men in the same space, is articulated with a chiseled glass façade holding two wooden doors that float within it.
Interior
On the inside of the existing structure, the minimal intervention involved a ‘white-out’ of the concave surfaces of the vaults, using special Lime mix brought from Aleppo in Syria, as well as the introduction of a new skylight that cuts the vaulted space to register the direction of the Quiblah wall towards Makkah, and bring light towards the Mihrab space.
Through the skylight, one can see the minaret in a visual looping of exterior back to the interior, linking visually the disassociation in typical mosques between the sound and the vision.
Similarly, the Mihrab is articulated with a concave reflective polished stainless steel arched wall that, though pointing towards Makkah, implodes this axiality by merging it visually with the wider context, bringing outside in, and distorting the interior spatiality of the mosque.
Towards the back of the mosque where the actual reading of the Quraan would happen, a wooden wall with the word iqra’ (read) is articulated in relief. It references the Islamic scholar Youssef Siddiq’s argument and interpretation that the first word in the Quraan, iqra’, of which the Quraan word is a derivative, argued for a critical and contextual reading of the Quraan as a post-structuralist ‘text’ to be read critically, and not as a meta-narrative to be recited blindly.
The call to prayer, in collaboration with artists Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Nisrine Khodr, was re- interpreted along the same lines as a variation on the normative call to prayer by the idea of having it spoken rather than sung, in a return to the words where the listener focuses on the meaning rather than the melody.
Overall the design of the mosque is a celebration of the ethos of modernity as it relates tectonically to the notion of abstraction, of ephemerality, and representationally to the continuity of the humanism tradition in Islam. It represents a part of a cultural war of ideas that needs to be fought against the fundamentalist forces across religions, a war where architecture is a weapon.
#restoration , #renovation, #mosque , #interior_desigh, #Lebanon , #typography , #lighting ,#landmark
@revitalization
Insan becomes the epicenter of the ground plane of the plaza.
As one moves around the mosque, the planar reading of the mosque formed by the steel plates becomes transparent, while the two words (Allah/Insan) becomes more apparent, and vice versa. The overall lightness of the mosque’s tectonic sits also in a relational contrast to the heaviness of the Moukhtara’s palace stone volumetric.
A fig tree shades the new plaza, and creating a book end along with the existing Olive tree on the other side of the street, alluding to the ‘Fig and Olive’ verse (souret at-teen) in the Quraan and referencing the importance of both trees in Christian tradition as well. At the threshold, the entry to the mosque’s hall, which accommodates both women and men in the same space, is articulated with a chiseled glass façade holding two wooden doors that float within it.
Interior
On the inside of the existing structure, the minimal intervention involved a ‘white-out’ of the concave surfaces of the vaults, using special Lime mix brought from Aleppo in Syria, as well as the introduction of a new skylight that cuts the vaulted space to register the direction of the Quiblah wall towards Makkah, and bring light towards the Mihrab space.
Through the skylight, one can see the minaret in a visual looping of exterior back to the interior, linking visually the disassociation in typical mosques between the sound and the vision.
Similarly, the Mihrab is articulated with a concave reflective polished stainless steel arched wall that, though pointing towards Makkah, implodes this axiality by merging it visually with the wider context, bringing outside in, and distorting the interior spatiality of the mosque.
Towards the back of the mosque where the actual reading of the Quraan would happen, a wooden wall with the word iqra’ (read) is articulated in relief. It references the Islamic scholar Youssef Siddiq’s argument and interpretation that the first word in the Quraan, iqra’, of which the Quraan word is a derivative, argued for a critical and contextual reading of the Quraan as a post-structuralist ‘text’ to be read critically, and not as a meta-narrative to be recited blindly.
The call to prayer, in collaboration with artists Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Nisrine Khodr, was re- interpreted along the same lines as a variation on the normative call to prayer by the idea of having it spoken rather than sung, in a return to the words where the listener focuses on the meaning rather than the melody.
Overall the design of the mosque is a celebration of the ethos of modernity as it relates tectonically to the notion of abstraction, of ephemerality, and representationally to the continuity of the humanism tradition in Islam. It represents a part of a cultural war of ideas that needs to be fought against the fundamentalist forces across religions, a war where architecture is a weapon.
#restoration , #renovation, #mosque , #interior_desigh, #Lebanon , #typography , #lighting ,#landmark
@revitalization